Pretence
by dib07
Summary: A final war is ushered, but not between two armies. Between one overlander and a small, brave hedgehog. This final fight will dictate the end and nothing will ever be the same again.
1. Chapter 1

_'__**The Legends of Sonic the Hedgehog'**_

**Pretence**

**By Dib07**

**Rating: T**

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><p><strong>Summary:<strong>

Robotnik's forces are gathering. A congregation of horror eternal that threatens the Mobians. A final war is ushered. But not between two armies.

Between one overlander and a small, brave hedgehog. This final fight will dictate the end and nothing will ever be the same again.

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**Dib07:** Notes for Pretence that you don't have to read. But here are some details you may like to consider:

Anything that mentions the Victory/War refers to the battle in the story The Dawn to Darkness.

Sonic is smaller than both Shadow and Sally in physcial size.

Overlanders are also referred to as forerunners.

Also, Dr. Robotnik/Eggman is truly evil and will stop at nothing to kill Sonic.

This story is only going to be rated T, but I will forewarn you if there are character deaths/painful situations in later chapters, which there will be. So if you are sensitive, you will be warned.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic da hedgehog and that includes all chapters henceforth. This is purely fanworks.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: In the Beginning<strong>

The sky was red.

Red like spilled crimson in a pool. Or red like the winter evening of a long cold day.

The mechanical giant foundered upon his victim like an iron behemoth. The ceiling above cracked as easily as glass, and the split grew and stretched violently, causing stone and metal rubble to fall.

The gem of power throbbed angrily in the background like an overseer. And overseer that counted the seconds. That brought death when it wanted. It was a ticking time bomb.

Its flashing thick green splashed across the walls. It illuminated every inch of flesh and it filled very crevice in detail.

The glow was huge. Immense. Light….

…The light…

There were caves. They were so cold and bitter, like twisted wire set against a glassy sky. Pain and sickness were down those tunnels. Blue spines littered the snowy floor veneered in bloody footprints.

It was morning. The light was too bright. The wind was still.

The sky was red that day.

With a red scarf flapping ruthlessly in the wind, a brave young hedgehog stopped at the edge of a steep cliff overlooking the sunny great plains of home. Of Mobius divine in all her beauty. The grassy dunes wavered in the rushing gales like waters on the ocean. The sun poured over the thin rivers and trees like a merciless goddess.

Robotnik had been beaten back. It had been a hard-won victory, and the overlander's cyborgs and androids had been vicious to the very last. So when Sonic thought about their recent fight in the war, he only remembered the numerous casualties. The deaths involved. And the pain.

Tails stood boldly beside him, his presence silent while he observed the plains with him. It was very enticing to think of a 'free' Mobius, but Robotnik would not go down easy. He had the upper hand – he always did. Yes, they had won the war. However, the sleazy overlander had a fortitude of bases, each one having the opportunity or not to house the brilliant warlord. The land was being snarled at his feet with pollution. More and more creatures were being senselessly slaughtered since the roboticization process was now inferior. Robotnik didn't need vessels anymore. He had gone beyond that. And would go further still. Unless he was stopped.

As Sonic surveyed the land, the land that could one day be free, he tried to think of a plan, a failsafe way of getting to Robotnik, avoiding his tricks and traps, and actually _getting to him._ Unfortunately, this task was impossible unless he thought of some way round it.

And soon before another war was staged. One they could not win against.

"Is that it over there?" Tails pointed to the west at a group of lonesome cliffs clinging to their mother mountain. The area was hilly and full of rocks that roughened the steep valley. Somewhere in that niche of stone and earth was Sonic's second home. His main one was in Knothole; a small, luxurious, if slightly messy cottage not far from Sally's. He only maintained the place if he had time... or could be bothered. And though Knothole was supposed to be safe, it was not completely private. And so, Sonic made another home, one so secret, that only Tails and the princess knew about it.

It was a snug little cave hidden behind a curtain of willow leaves at the entrance. It was complete with a wooden bed, enough blankets for a sleep-over party, a pantry and basic kitchen. Though it was too small to live in comfortably and too cold for the winter, it was a perfect hideout. Sonic and Tails often went there to enjoy secret camp fires and to tell each other songs and stories. It was a serenity for them that only the aegis of the mountains could offer.

In the winter, the shadows of the mountains lingered over the cave for months, and icicles would form crystal-like crust over the mouth like icing.

The cave itself offered a riotous view of the grass plains below, since the hedgehog home was so far up from ground level. If you stood on the edge of the ridge by the cave's entrance, you could see for leagues. The wind and the sound carried, so it was easier to tell when trouble was coming.

Tails himself wasn't keen on the old stone rubble and large hole that didn't go far or deep enough to be considered a cave. The fox preferred wooden housing high up in trees. It was safer, dryer and warmer. Since he could fly, that made sense.

The lurid summer had been a plentiful one, and the inhabitants of Mobius were reaping the rewards since the fiery winter of the war. Without recent hindrance from Dr. Robotnik, different tribes and villages were able to trade again. Of course, danger was never far off.

Malignant robot guards, posted as sentries, attacked on sight, so complete freedom was still a dream as Eggman kept watch over a planet he believed to be his.

Here, on the cliffs, a much-needed breeze ruffled their fur. It had been the hottest day on record for two years. At this, Tails had commented on Sonic's fine scarf that had been wrapped around his neck. The hedgehog winked at his affable question with a teasing smile. "Been to the winter wastes to the north, buddy, to make sure old Eggman isn't setting up more factories there. So far, the whole continent is in the clear. And besides, a few hours away from the heat is bliss!"

Pale blue, admiral butterflies danced on the buds of flowers at their backs. The sky above was completely cloudless, forming a dense, rich blue. The sky looked so close, you could almost touch it.

Thunder storms were predicted in a few days time. The sudden lashing heat made the temperatures in the heavens climax with energy. The hidden, lurching tension only worsened Tails' apprehension. Even though Mobius seemed to be having a calm break, nothing could undo the spell of anxiety nestled within the fox.

Sonic's lungs exhaled a relaxed sigh. There was no baleful intentions here, no evil to spoil the freedom of the day, and no danger to look out for.

Peace.

Yet he felt the anguish emitting from his little brother.

With light steps and an even lighter heart, Sonic turned round and went back to the packed food the kitson had brought with him for lunch. He unwrapped the bread from its protective paper and rested the loaf on a patchwork mat that had been laid out on the grass. The kitson had also thought of bringing along a jug of herbal tea among the ginger biscuits.

The town of Nutley was opposite them across Amber Wood where the fields of cherries and oranges grew. Nutley was busy with trade, as they could hear the townsfolk play and chatter across the fields. Though there wasn't much wind, the sound carried.

Tails came and sat opposite him while Sonic cut a slice off the bread and buttered it with a knife.

"You know, this has been one of the best days I've ever had." He said, smiling just before he crammed the slice of bread into his mouth.

Tails listened to the mellow sound of life all around him. It was almost too good. "I wish I could enjoy the day with you, Sonic," he began with a dull air, "but I can't help worrying. Eggman will return with something worse. And what can we do? We've spent everything we had in the war."

"Wise words, but Ol'Robotnik sure spent everything he had too. He was planning on winning, so he threw _everything_ he had at us."

"He can build robots fast."

"Well, I can destroy them ever faster. Have some bread."

Tails did. He cut off a slightly smaller portion and buttered it eagerly. Then he poured some tea from the jug and sipped gingerly. When he had finished and put his stone cup back down, he said after some comfortable silence, "you know what I'm really worried about? I'm worried Eggman'll catch us again... and hurt us..."

Sonic shrugged mirthfully and drank some tea himself. It wasn't very good cold, but all the same; cold tea was always welcome on a burning hot day. The grass was thick and when he laid down to stretch out on it, it felt like a warm, fuzzy carpet under his fur. "No more. That happened once; it's not going to happen again."

"But how?"

"I don't want to think about it. Let's enjoy our meal."

It felt like so far away. The cold walls – the mechanical stench. The fact that Eggman might have _touched_ him. The thought made him shiver despite the hot weather.

He had made a vow to kill Robotnik after they were captured. Killing an overlander was different than say... destroying androids. But he would do it without hesitation if the time ever came.

"Is Knuckles... okay?" Tails would not stop with the questions. Sonic was slightly irritated, but instead he pretended to be nonchalant. He folded his arms gracefully behind his head and a fly buzzed around his ear.

"He's fine. He's guarding that stupid emerald on Angel Island. He must be loving this awesome weather."

_Oh, they'll be action soon._

It would happen eventually. He just had to wait. Eggman was probably planning something lovely.

'"_It's a shame I've only just caught on… you see I was busy planning… ahh planing yes… I love doing that…"'_

The human's voice was a callous reminder that he would always be around to plot more evil on Mobius. If he was given enough time, he could convert the whole planet into a metal war factory.

_At least he doesn't have any emeralds._

Sonic had the blue emerald hidden away somewhere safe. The green one Silver took back with him and Eggman had none. Those were good odds, so long as it stayed that way. Then he got an idea. He sat up, rubbed one eye and peered at Tails who was now finishing off the rest of the bread.

"What say we go out and hunt for some emeralds?" He suggested. Why not? An extra emerald would give them plenty of strength against any threat.

Tails did not share his sudden fervour. "I've lost my emerald radar."

"What? How?" His voice was sharp.

Tails looked at him and blinked. He could not remember how exactly. It had happened before the Victory. Perhaps Eggman had removed it from him when he got captured.

"I think it was stolen."

Sonic let off a low growl that sounded alien coming from him. He noticed Tails staring and quickly adorned a look of perplexity. "So what? We look for them the hard, normal way? That's all right isn't it? We might find something."

Tails shook his head. There was a one in thousand chance they'd find any emerald on Mobius without technology.

"Well, Eggman originally had two, didn't he?" Sonic exclaimed. The same fly from earlier came to settle on his head. He waved it off with his gloved hand. "We lost one, then Knuckles tore the blue one from a robot in the Victory. He may have more."

"You're making me more worried now." Tails sulked. He was no longer enjoying the picnic and even the hazy, sleepy warmth wasn't helping. He sat tense and still like a rabbit that was snared with fear. Sonic came over and gave him a quick, reassuring hug.

"Everything will be okay, buddy. We'll form a plan of our own for when Robotnik comes. Then we'll be prepared. Right now as we speak, Knothole's having defences installed. That human will get a warm welcome when he comes knocking at our door."

Tails smiled grimly, but the gesture didn't touch his lucid eyes.

As it got later into the afternoon, it was too hot and dry to sit beyond the trees so they packed everything back into the basket and headed into the shade of the Amber Forest. Going back home sounded much better.

"Let's just get you back to Knothole."

They walked slowly back together, with Sonic carrying the picnic basket.

A pleasant zephyr swept past and the thinnest trees creaked. The warm air was amiably torrid and humid, and the air itself was sweet with the smell of blossoming flowers.

Knothole was located deep in the Great Forest, hidden from Eggman. Knothole Village was only accessible through hidden entrances at various points in the forest, which were guarded day and night.

Originally, long ago, Knothole was a retreat for the Royal Family, who otherwise lived in the capital city of Mobotropolis. When Ivo Robotnik took over and banished the king and the civilians roboticized, Sonic, Sally and those that survived were led to Knothole to hide. Eventually Knothole became their home and centre of operations. Through the years, Knothole remained undetected, and soon they had to build underground as their base expanded.

Now, Robotnik's base of operations was Mobotropolis, which he completely overthrew and then rechristened it Robotropolis. The human promptly transformed the once pristine, utopian paradise into an industrial wasteland, full of automated factories and pollution.

Sonic opened a partition of wood from the trunk of a tree, revealing a slide inside. He and Tails went down it, and into the village.

The villagers in Knothole were busy doing what they did not any normal day. The school was loud with kittens and pups. The builders were hard at work setting up mounds for weapons and a few burly hyenas were stocking up stone slabs for a wall. The females were either standing idly and gossiping or gathering food.

As Sonic and Tails were walking directly to their own dwelling, Tails couldn't help but overhear a story being told by one of the elders at the school. The school was an open building with no walls. The children sat outside on the grass with chalkboards in their laps.

The elder sat in front of twenty young animals, and for the most part, they were silent as he spoke.

The elder was an old stag, who was well past his prime. His muzzle was grisly and grey. His long robes were mud stained as if he had been traipsing in a swamp. His eyes however, burned with wisdom and youth, and his antlers were bone white, and immaculately clean. The stag's name was Uarua, and in his youth he had been a royal guard.

Tails stopped and listened to the story being told by Uarua.

"Once upon a time, all the animals were happy. They worked together. They played and danced. For the world was new and wondrous. The Mother Goddess had made it so for her children.

"Then, one day, the animals saw a man standing all on his own, looking very sad. A ferret said, 'cheer up. I do not like to see you so despondent.'

And the man said, 'I am sad because I have nothing. I am useless.'

The ferret replied, 'do not say that. I'll give my speed and courage.'

Then the man said, 'I want to be stronger than anything else.'

The Wolf replied, 'you can have my mettle and stamina.'

And the man said, 'I want to see everything.'

The Eagle said, 'I will let you.'

And the man said, 'I want to know everything of this world and more.'

And the bat said, 'I will lead you to knowledge.'

Then, after all the animals had given the man their stars of life and secrets, they were happy. But the bear came to them after the man had gone and he said, 'I am deeply sorry for us all.'

'Why?' Asked the wolf.

The bear looked at them sadly. 'Now the man has everything. For I saw a blackness in the man. A blackness he will never be able to fill. He will never be content. He will keep on taking and taking until the world has nothing left to give and all the stars of life are gone.'"

The tale ended and the children watched on, still and awed. Tails felt Sonic's hand over his, and he proceeded to follow him. When they got far from earshot, the fox said, "there is more truth in that story than there is in life."

"It's just a story." Sonic sighed. They got to his house and he nudged open the door with his foot. He seldom kept it properly closed.

They walked up the staircase in silence, until Sonic came to his bedroom. Like always the floor was littered in things he could never be bothered to tidy away. There were books scattered like confetti, there were pens, model rings and tiny models of Robotnik's robots.

Tails picked up an empty box and placed it on the duvet of Sonic's car bed.

"You really need to clean this place up." He told him, "or you'll break your ankle on something."

Sonic giggled and opened his old toy chest. Instead of toys it contained weapons. Some were old, others were new. Amongst the bows and slingshots he picked out a lumpy bit of cloth and unraveled it to reveal the blue emerald. Its powerful azure glow looked as clear and as beautiful as the tropical ocean. As Sonic gently turned it in his fingers, its radiant body shimmered like magic from the Goddess herself.

"You hide it in there?" Tails couldn't help but shriek in astonishment. "Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"Where else do you suppose we hide it?" He used the cloth to tenderly stroke its hard surface, as if cleansing away any speck of dust on its coat, but he needn't have bothered because it was already perfectly clean.

Tails shrugged, not suggesting anything. "So much for the radar." He said, "I'm worried about who else might have it."

"We don't need a radar."

"What?"

Sonic grinned. "Now that I'm looking at it, I know what we can do. Emeralds react to one another, so we can use this one to seek out more."

"Of course." He said laconically.

Sonic chuckled and bounced the sacred gem in his hands like a ball. "Let's get started before it gets dark!"

"But we've just got back!" Tails did not want to go back out again. He was frightened out there. He had heard tales of Robotnik's troops stalking hapless victims, and striking ruthlessly until scores of animals were left dying in the sun without the faint idea of what had hit them.

"It's okay, Tails!" His comely voice was bursting with confidence. Sometimes Sonic's relaxed demeanor made the twin-tailed fox feel queasy. "We won't be long! Come on! Another emerald would be great, don't ya think?"

"Okay."

The emeralds had a long story behind them, one as possibly as old as time. The emeralds themselves herald a seemingly unlimited energy and they all are the source of vitality for all living things on Mobius. The more emeralds there are in one place, the more total energy than there would be with the same amount of emeralds separately because like most Mobians knew, emeralds reacted to one another.

It is also said (or rumored) that the emeralds may have been the product of the Xorda (the aliens that transformed the planet that we know as Mobius) gene bombs. Specifically they were formed by the absorption of the Xorda gene bombs' massive energy release into underground beryl deposits. But, this theory by the Mobian scientists had never been proven.

Amy was out making bread. She folded the gooey dough and then lathered it in crisp fresh flour. She liked working in the open, so that she could relish the summer's day. The table she was working on reached up to her waist, but even then she had to use a stool to bend over to exert extra force on the dough. But, when forming yeast, kneading became a tiring chore and she stood back and watched the young animals playing in the sun.

"I wish the weather would be like this every day."

Sally came by and dropped a bag of potatoes. "Peel these, will you?" She asked, "I've got more work to do on the defenses."

Amy scowled at the suggestion of more work, but only bit her tongue instead of flying off the handle. She had learned from before never to argue with a princess. "How are the defenses going?"

"Good. The stark plants have all been planted and the sentry guns we've stolen have been set up to monitor the west and east side. I'm working on the rest."

A storm suddenly cankered into the area and the trees and bushes rocked violently in the turbulence. The earth itself seemed to heave.

Sally looked up and saw a spinning blue blur running circles round them. She stamped her foot and groaned impatiently. "Sonic! That's enough!"

On request the blue hedgehog presently stopped with a playful smile on his lips. "Like my entrance? You know, the way I came flying in?"

Sally tried not to smile back. Though his childish ways brightened her day, sometimes his mood got very irritating. "You could have knocked down a tree." She said, flashing a look of ire, "it may be all right for you to run around, but you can scare the life out of me when you do that."

"I apologize, Sal. Me and Tails are going to go out emerald hunting." He showed her the blue emerald. She was no stranger at the sight of it.

Amy suddenly whimpered with excitement, "take me with you, Sonic!"

Sonic bleached.

Sally shook her head. "No, Sonic. No emerald hunting for today. I'm worried what Robotnik will do, and it's not safe out there."

"We were out camping and there was nothing dangerous!" Sonic said with despair at her decision, "come on Sal! Another emerald will help our chances!"

"No!" Her steel blue eyes did not falter. When she was this serious, her judgment was final.

Sonic gave her a vindictive grimace and walked away, feeling suddenly gloomy. Tails came up to him. He had his backpack ready with supplies for the adventure which had now been terminated.

"Sorry, Tails. No trip. Sal's orders."

"What?" His face was a picture of pure shock. "But that's not fair! It's dull and boring here!"

"I know. There's nothing to do. No Eggy to fight, so wars to spill. No gems to hunt."

Tails opened his mouth to say that they should go anyway, that finding an emerald would make everyone happy, but he shut his mouth instead and kept in step with his best friend. What was Sally so worried about?

_**Next week:**_

Sonic is haunted by the beginnings of a bad dream that will one day become a terrible reality.

Shadow is picked out by the dark overlander as his next pawn against the animals threatening to ruin his kingdom.

Til then, catch ya later!

**Dib07**


	2. Chapter 2 Something Dark

**Pretence**

**By Dib07**

**Notes:** Sagarus is the eighth chaos emerald, black in color, and was purely made as a failsafe device against Shadow if he ever went out of control. The emerald's location was unknown, but it hardly went far. Passed down from his grandfather or stolen from his relics of science, Eggman seized it, intending to learn from it and use it against Gerald's creation. Few know about it.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Something Dark<strong>

The moon was full, but its delightful image was vanquished by the storm clouds. Knothole was silent as all the Mobians living there had retreated into their homes as gales and hard rain shattered against roofs and walls. Sally was irritated because she was not able to complete her work on time. The defenses were left unfinished. Many delicate gadgets had to be sheltered with waterproof sheets to keep the rain off them.

Sonic watched the grisly weather outside. Though the temperature in his little home was still very mild compared to outside, he shivered. Splashes of rainwater trickled down his windowpanes and he traced the lines they left with his finger in boredom. When it rained he couldn't go out. Running in sludgy mud was dangerous, and he wasn't exactly crazy about getting soaking wet either.

"Let's play another card game!" Tails suggested happily, despite the gloomily downpour. He came in with a tray of cherries, butter and stacks of homemade crackers.

"All right." He swung round on his stool, hopped off and joined Tails on the carpet. Next to the fireplace was an oil lamp and its bright flames seemed to warm the room. In Knothole, when it rained, all power was often switched off to avoid power cuts. Restoring power after blowing the generator took time, so it was covered and turned off.

The hedgehog adjusted his position until he was sitting comfortably. The storm could be heard loudly outside as it pounded against the sides of the cottage.

They played Black Jack, with Sonic always coming out as the winner. On the third game, Tails said wistfully, "there's something that's been bothering me."

"What, Tails? Tell me."

"That day when Dr. Robotnik captured us… I know he tries to do it often, but we escaped so easily. And… and why did he do it? He didn't poison us or harm us or…"

"It's okay buddy. That's over now." He lent forward a little so that he could pat Tails on the shoulder. "Eggman's dumb and crazy. We just gotta thank our lucky stars that he didn't do anything else to us. Understand?"

The young fox nodded.

It was early morning when Sonic finally decided it was time he caught some sleep. In fact, the only time he really stopped was when he rested.

His room was cluttered as always. It was his nature to leave things lying about. Sally hated this attribute he had. Every time she came into his room to see him she _always_ slipped on something.

She would say: _'What is it with you, Sonic? It wouldn't hurt to clean up a little! Even you have the time to do that! Now clean this mess up before I explode!'_

Thing was, he liked things at hand. If you cleared it up, you'd have to find it again just to use it, so if you had it hanging about, you wouldn't have to look far.

He took a shower first and hid his sneakers under his car bed before jumping into his covers and blowing the oil lamp out. The wind howled like a thousand wolves outside. He snuggled tight and wondered if the conditions of the storm were just as bad up on Angel Island. If so, Knux was going to get wet, real wet.

He turned over and caught sight of his glowing star stickers on the ceiling. He gazed at them absently until his eyes finally slid shut.

There was a wrongness in his dreams… like the tarantula adorning an iced cake. He dreamed of cold, lapping snow. A hungry… white element that did nothing but hurt him from within. A tiny, flickering white fire glowed absently in the blackness as the white storms howled in muted anger. Sonic approached the white flame through the darkness of the storm, fingers outstretched and taut in the snapping cold. He was wearing protective clothing; however they did little to ease the freezing temperatures racing around him.

The flame was so close now. Its light purred beneath his approaching fingertips.

The closer he got to it, the more his chest hurt.

Whistling winds moaned in his ears. He swore he heard a voice there, riding on the gales. It was so faint that he couldn't be sure.

The flame. It called. And it was weak.

"Sonic!"

The voice woke him, and having such neat reflexes, he jumped out of bed and stood in a fighting pose. His spikes were raised, and so were his fists.

"Sonic!"

He turned round towards the sound, now beginning to feel a little confused. He discovered that the voice had come from his communicator on his desk. He hated being woken like that.

"Should have switched you off!"

His primal senses told him it was barely dawn outside.

He flipped open the view-screen and looked down at Sally's face. The shallow dark grooves under her eyes told him she hadn't slept well, if at all. "Sonic!" Her voice still held that prism of panic that had initially shot him awake. "Big trouble! On the edge of the Great Forest!"

"W-What trouble?" His shade of anger from being woken so early faded into the recesses of his mind. "Sal, are you all right?"

He could see her trembling. "No. There's some monster out there… and it's already destroyed two homes…"

"Any casualties?" He had to ask.

"No. Ten villagers died Sonic. Stop gaping at me like that! RUN!"

Sonic dropped the communicator and did. He brought out his sneakers, fixed them on over his socks and rocketed out of his cottage, leaving a long plume of smoke behind him.

Outside it was dark. The sun was just peeking over the trees. But there were no birds singing. It was a quiet, eerie dawn where everything, even the wind, was silent.

Large rain puddles were left after last night's storm.

Sonic dashed forwards, out of Knothole and into the wide jungle of the Great Forest. What he met in his path was chaos, and disaster.

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><p>Shadow, unbeknownst to everyone else, wasn't safe either. The Ark, a prime example of past forerunner innovation and intelligence, was supposed to be a sanctuary of safety as well as an ill-fated weapon. Shadow used it as his main home, his bubble of safety away from the rough, hardy lives of the natives on Mobius. But he was wrong. He wasn't safe. At all.<p>

An alien shadow flittered down the corridors like a gloating parasite while the hedgehog slept. He dreamt of wracked red heavens. The earth tossing and heaving into an arc of convulsing pain. Dark shapes slithered around the corners of his awareness, like grim ravens waiting to claim another life to feed their insatiable hunger. Amidst the disaster and ruin of his nightmares, he felt the ominous presence of the one he feared. Sagarus.

Why did it control him so? Why was it so different from the others? Why?

He dreamed of Dr. Robotnik too. He felt him everywhere, as acutely as Sagarus. He felt his fingers around his throat. He felt him prod him as if he was a lab animal suited only for tests.

Unbeknownst to Shadow, his dreams echoed truth. For he was not alone in the Ark. Not anymore.

The security hadn't worked for years and Shadow never bothered with it, so when an intruder came on board, it went unnoticed.

From a distance, the Ark was hard to seize. You couldn't enter the outside hull without a passcode, and without the main doors functioning to your purposes, another way had to be made. And making another entry was near impossible. You were in space, in the very orbit of Mobius. The air vacuum would kill all life that wasn't protected from the elements. But there was one man who had the technology and the skills to conquer this little problem.

Dr. Ivo Robotnik.

He had it all planned out, as he did with everything. When night veiled over the Mobians, he set to work. Grafting an android to the outer shell of the Ark while he sat in a small ship to protect him from the vacuum, he drilled a small hole into the protective hull. It was a delicate operation, as he had to do so with no vacuum entering the hull of the Ark, or else this would alert the sensors within the giant weapon. While he did this, he sent his own nanites (tiny, microscopic robots) inside to cut off all security CCTV, motion sensors and the essential motherboard system that worked the Ark, but not so much so it would cut off the oxygen and drop the weapon out of orbit. No. Everything was stealth. Everything.

Gas was pumped into the Ark's breathable ventilation systems, which very soon affected all nine levels of the Ark, including the bedrooms, kitchens and workshops. This allowed the doctor all the time he needed.

Once that was done, the real work went into progress. Robot drones; sent out on cables, began to make a second incision into the Ark to allow larger entry. This was done with highly advanced cutting tools with lazar technology. Only then could the human genius progress into the giant sky citadel in his little egg ship. He personally never got involved with affairs that led him risking his own life. He couldn't afford to drop out when he had a planet to conquer, however, tonight he was feeling confident.

So, with sharp intentions and a will that could shatter walls, the evil doctor, flanked by his royal guard sentries, entered Shadow's domain without the need for stealth.

They found Shadow in the bedroom two floors up, sleeping under blankets woven by forerunners many years ago. There was a full-length mirror opposite the bed and a framed picture of Maria standing neatly on the nightstand. The hedgehog himself was still very much fast asleep, now that the gas had done its work. Even when the Ark had naturally dispensed with it via the ventilation to filter out all poisons, it had done its job. However, since Shadow was so resilient against all potent drugs, Robotnik had to make sure Shadow remained OD. With more heavy tranquilizers in his system that could kill ordinary Mobians, he transported Shadow into a shatter-proof container just large enough to accommodate his size, and after that, he was taken out of the Ark and taken to one of Robotnik's underground lairs…

… Far from home.

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><p>Sonic ran past all those that were fleeing for their lives. The screams that punctured the air made it hard to hear what was really wrong beneath it all and what he was up against. However, the destruction was clear to see. Trees had been sliced in half, their huge carcasses inert across pathways or had come to rest upon homes, crushing the foundations beneath its bulk. The trunks were cut so clean it didn't look natural.<p>

Sonic was clearly perplexed and worried. In his mind he envisioned an army of robots that had come directly from Eggman's headquarters to pulverize the animals in a spiteful attack. This would be grave news indeed if it were true.

He stopped in front of some families just long enough to see if they were okay. Most were visibly unharmed. The ones that were, had been killed. Bodies had been squashed flat under the great oaks that had fallen. Others looked as though they had been riddled with plasma bullets. It was nauseous, gazing at so much death… especially seeing those he knew… Now gone.

"Eggman!" His scream echoed hotly amongst the regressing shouts of the animals as they left, bolting into the Great Forest or elsewhere.

Then he heard it.

An interloping _whoosh_ of fiery wind roared above like the pounding rotors from a helicopter. He saw the leaves swirl and dance in the gale like a hurricane picking up its strength.

What came out of the forest however, was far worse.

It was what he had initially guessed. A robot, but not an army of them. This one had a sensory visor; it had weapons fixed onto its long, thin orange arms. It adorned the mechanical whine of the standard, yet feared machine. Yet this one was different. It was an exact replica of Tails in android form.

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><p><strong>TBC<strong>


	3. Chapter 3 Man

**Dib07: This is quite an unusally short chapter for me. This is another chapter on Shadow. Yup. The killer hedgehog.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: Man<strong>

When Shadow was close to waking, his dreams fazed until he could not remember the bitterness that sugar-coated them. The darkness lapsed and his consciousness began to surface. An inner instinct, something primal, told him, _shouted_ at him to get up. Get up _now_! You're under attack!

With a huge jerk, he went to sit up, an electric chagrin of adrenaline buzzing down his back. His actions were met with hard resistance. He couldn't get up! Couldn't even move! He looked about wildly like a caged tiger, expecting to see the white, stale walls of the Ark on all sides. He was very wrong.

He was on a cold, flat surgical table. His wrists and ankles had been bound by some extraordinary power cusps that were somehow able to bite down his strength. Either way, he didn't feel particularly strong. He felt dazed and lost, as if he was submerged underwater and couldn't bring himself to the surface to take a breath.

Whenever he tried to break loose, the power cusps glowed as if they were taking his energy away every time he struggled. Like quicksand.

He snarled murderously.

Then he saw a shadow move in the corner of his sight. He looked round as much as his vision could allow and yelped with harrowing surprise.

Dr. Robotnik was standing proudly several yards before the table with his great arms crossed over his massive chest. It had been a long time since Shadow last laid eyes on the overlander, and didn't remember him being quite so fat and ugly. And evil.

When nothing passed from between the overlander's devilish lips, Shadow promptly began to struggle again, refusing to just lie down and accept whatever fate had planned. "Doctor! What are you doing? How did you…?"

"Ah, don't concern yourself about that, my fine, little hedgepig." The evil scientist always sounded so very calm and in control. Though the back of his voice seemed to growl. This was either from age, or from the fat in his throat. Shadow could only speculate. "What matters is that you are here, with me." He came round to face Shadow so that the hedgehog could watch him more easily from his position on the table. The walls were bugling with cables, wire and panels. All of this intestinal technology harbored nothing natural like stone or wood. It was like being trapped in the womb of a machine.

A smile curled Dr. Robotnik's lips while his red eyes gloated over his captured body like a hungry predator.

Shadow's face twisted into a feral grimace, "the Ark is impossible to access from the outside! How did you do it? LET ME GO!" He fought massively against the power cusps until he lay, exhausted. Despite his vigor, he remained bitterly imprisoned with nothing to show for his efforts.

"You're wasting precious energy trying to escape." Robotnik growled again. Much of his bulky form was blanketed by shadows, but the red orbs of his eyes pierced the darkness resolutely. "These power cusps absorb energy. The more you try to break free, the harder they will keep you."

At that, Shadow reluctantly allowed his taut muscles to go lax. "Why have you d-done this to me?" He asked.

The human chuckled. The noise plagued the cramped room with gluttonous echoes. "Oh dear, horrid creature, I need you. Always have, I am hard pressed to admit. I wish you had decided to work with me. Think of all the power we could have had! The victories we could have wrought! But no, my dear friend, you decided to betray me and join my darling blue nemesis. Tell me, why did you choose him?" Now his laughter ended, and Shadow was afraid. It took a lot to get him scared. He rarely bowed to emotion or pain, and bitterly stepped over corpses if he had to without the glimmer of remorse. Yet here he was, drained of power, and before the mightiest foe on Mobius. An overlander. Capable of ripping an animal apart with his bare hands.

And as such, he did not want to answer the question.

"Let me go!" He repeated in a warning tone, "if you do, I won't kill you!"

"Ha! You? Making threats? To me?" The poisonous laughter was back. Shadow cringed from where he lay. "Humph! You sure are dense for an Ultimate Life Form." He suddenly approached towards him from the thick, black aegis of the room, closing that immeasurable gap of safety. Shadow's heart accelerated.

The Doctor had kidnapped him while he was sleeping! The Doctor had touched him! The Doctor could have done hundreds of things to him while he had been unconscious!

"Go away!" It came out as a desperate choke. He refused to scream, even now.

The Doctor smiled just enough so that his big, white teeth showed. His cheeks rumpled into wrinkles and his eyes bulged with madness. "Come now, relax! Let's talk business!" He sniggered in a cynical shade of triumph. "Soon you'll be begging to serve me!"

The human knew exactly what he was doing. He always had, and that was what made him such a formidable enemy, as Sonic had warned. Some say, the human himself as actually possessed by a demon from the chambers of hell to destroy the planet. Others say it's simply what humans are. Creatures hungry for death and destruction.

A machine on four little metal legs chuggered forth like a reptile from the cloying darkness. It had a long skeletal head and out of its metallic skull emerged a long needle that it jabbed into Shadow's side. The hedgehog once again tried to rise and fight again his cusps. It was no use. The Doctor stood there, watching, as if fascinated how, even when the situation was futile, his victims still fought for a way out.

"Shadow, listen. I know you're scared, but I can make it all go away. What you've been injected with just now is a lovely drug called potominx90. Its effects are horrible. It's a poison you see, that stays within the body, even when you're dead. Only I have the cure, and if you do what I instruct, you will be cured. I promise."

Shadow's eyes flickered to the human and to the robot that had just administered the lethal potomin dose. "How… how dare you!" He couldn't move! He couldn't attack! He hated the human even more so than before, and hated his own self for not being strong enough the break the spell of the cusps.

"You're not listening!" Snapped the Doctor. His voice was colored with anger. "You have to do two simple things. Two little things! First, find and kill Sonic! Then take his fucking emerald! Understand!"

"No."

"Understand?" The Doctor's heavy fist smashed into his lower jaw. Shadow winced, body trying to curl against the pain; however the cusps kept him down. "Bring the emerald to me, and in return, I shall reverse the effects of the poison."

"What will the poison do?" He asked through bloodied lips.

"Kill you slowly, you fucking rat! And in the meantime making you feel weak and clumsy! Don't you get it?" He leaned closer to Shadow. With the hedgehog completely bound, he was not afraid to be so very close to the Ultimate Life Form who was renowned for his superior strength. "Not even your father's advanced chemistry will save you now."

"You want me to k-kill, Sonic?"

"Yes. Anyway you can. He trusts you, and besides, you can overpower him any day. Drown him, poison his food. Choke him to death or break his ribs, I don't care! And be quick about it once I release you! Or the poison in your system will terminate you instead! But ooh, he will die anyway he you fail somehow. There's this new thing I'm busy making. Nanites! Once I get a few inside him, he'll be doomed whatever happens!"

Shadow lay on the table, actually weighing the options. He could feel the foreign substance he had been injected with coarse through his veins. His eyes started to glow. His body trembled with unkempt power.

Eggman stood away from him suddenly as if he had just been bitten. "What… what are you doing?"

Shadow grinned. _Yes, you stand there and gape, you big, fat dummy._

His body began to glow a faint crimson. It radiated from his fur like a whispery aura. "CHAOS…"

"Don't you dare!" A lethal hit landed against his head, and Shadow gladly accepted the rushing blackness.

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><p><strong>TBC<strong>

**(next week hopefully)**


	4. Chapter 4 And Hedgehog

**Dib07: Hoorah! Next chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: And Hedgehog<strong>

There was crying. Everywhere. He walked casually into Knothole, surprised at the grief he saw. Tears leaked down every face. He could not quite gather why. Eggman was dead. They had won another victory. But no one was happy. Shadow looked amongst them, a fearful worry beginning to shimmer within him. Where was Sonic? Why was he not here?

Tails was by a little lake, stony and silent. He sat on the bank, ears pressed down. Crying. But Shadow could not get a word out of him. It was Princess Sally who took his hand and pointed him towards the clump of cottages. Curious, and faintly fearful, he looked in the direction she was pointing. Sonic's cottage stood prominently amongst the others. But the door was open, and the windows were smashed in. It was the door and entrance however, that was covered in blood.

_SONIC!_

* * *

><p>"SONIC!" He tore awake, body covered in cold sweat. He pressed his gloved hands to his head and saw the bed sheets under him.<p>

He was back in his own bed. He was in his room! He was back in the Ark!

The dark hedgehog hoped this wasn't another dream.

Shadow slipped off his bed, but a sudden weakness in his legs sent him spilling to the floor. He was low on energy, especially if his 'meeting' with Eggman had been real, which he was sure it was.

He stood back on his feet and checked his body for wounds of any kind. He couldn't remember much of what had transgressed, other than his jaw and head hurt. His arm seemed to be the only proof from the ambush of Eggman and the poison. It was layered with gauze, and when he removed the offending bandage, he found no wound here.

He did heal quickly. He was after all Gerald's finest creation to ever breathe. His molecules had evolved further than anything else, making his body very resilient to harm.

Shadow walked over to the nightstand and stared longingly at his little photo of Maria. Thoughts besieged him as he mentally begged the warm image of the girl he had lost for answers.

'_You want me to k-kill, Sonic?'_

'_Yes. Anyway you can. He trusts you, and besides, you can overpower him any day. Drown him, poison his food. Choke him to death or break his ribs, I don't care!'_

There was one way to prove if Eggman was telling the truth about the poison.

He quickly made his way to Gerald's private medical bay, the place where the old scientist took him when he was young for tests and so on. He didn't like coming here, but right now he didn't have time to be fussy. He wanted answers.

He confronted the cold manmade machines. He frowned disapprovingly at them. Some adopted the features of mechanical arms, much like the one he remembered the doctor having when he injected the poison into him.

There was a steel chair in the far corner of the large room that looked like a dentist's chair. And to his left against the wall was a bed stacked with equipment for cardiac treatment.

He closed his eyes briefly.

"This place is horrible."

The whole place gave off a heavy atmosphere that told of man. Man and their potential to do grave things.

Shadow stumbled forward, reluctant to begin. But he knew he had to.

He chose the first machine. Gerald called it the tablet of knowledge because it was an accurate gadget that could read anything from blood samples to single strands of DNA.

It came equipped with a stool and a tray of syringes. Plugged into a wall beside the tray was a small machine that could take blood samples and beside that was a computer that analyzed the results.

With disquieted unease, Shadow sat himself on the stool and got busy to distract himself from the gruesome tasks he had to perform.

Shadow grabbed a syringe, connected a tube to the blood machine and then connected that to the syringe. With a little precision, Shadow jabbed the needle into his wrist. Gerald had designed it so that when Shadow pulled the cap on the syringe, the blood went up the tube and went into the machine. It was simple and clean. At once the machine began to buzz and groan with activity. At least it still worked.

"This old thing should tell me… should tell me if there's any foreign substance in my bloodstream."

A flash of the Doctor punching him in the face made his lips curl in anger. With his free hand he touched his cheeks, finding them tender and sore.

"If that madman has done something to me…" He whispered to himself, "then I'll get through it."

He was immortal. A scientific miracle. No lethal injection was going to slow him down.

Or so he thought.

The machine started sending out a slow blip that it was done. Shadow removed the tubing and covered the hole where the needle had been with cotton. He stood from the stool and confronted the computer. It was still analyzing. A load icon had come up, and it was only half way done.

Shadow stood back and tried to calm himself. "I'm fine. I'm always fine." Yet he could not convince himself. The Doctor always managed to find ways of doing terrible things.

He sat down on the computer chair and blew the thick choking dust away on the brown keyboard.

On one icon it was labeled as blood type AB. Another said ninety percent complete and the last icon clearly read that all criterions were not valid. Shadow raised his eye ridge in perplexity. He was the Ultimate Life Form, but that did not make him a scientist.

"Gerald would have known just what to do." The ironic thing of it all, was that it was Gerald's own grandson that was putting his creation through this.

The uploading came through as complete and a scripture of information dominated the whole screen. It was lathered with human words. Shadow had to lean forward and squint just to read it.

_Area sanction B, gone into stasis. Possible contamination via X through to A._

_Infected: Neutrophils, eosinophils, lymphocytes, basophils, erythrocytes, thrombocytes._

_Processing…._

_Hemoglobin process jeopardized._

_Erythropoiesis process jeopardized._

_Processing…_

_Damage to hormone erythropoietin._

_Processing…._

_Sudden decrease of erythrocyte production._

The list went on.

Shadow simply couldn't understand all these human terms. Both his hands locked into fists.

"Make fucking sense!" He hit the keyboard. The screen flashed, and numbers briefly littered the words until the whole screen went blank.

Cursing and screaming like a wild animal, he picked up the keyboard and threw it against the floor. The anger and frustration at not being able to understand tormented him.

It wasn't fair. This was his life! He didn't want a screen full of meaningless jargon!

With a clean upper kick, he sent the screen shattering down to join the keyboard. A tide of glass slithered across the floor like little crystals.

"FUCK!" He ran out of the medical unit, grunting and whimpering like a loose maniac.

The words on screen came up before him.

_Infected: Neutrophils, eosinophils, lymphocytes…_

What did it all mean? It couldn't be good.

If only he knew where Eggman was! How was he supposed to deliver him an emerald when the human could be anywhere on Mobius?

Killing Sonic was actually... an easy prospect. Get behind him (and since the blue blur trusted him, this would be as easy as pie), and grab his middle. In one second he could deliver a lethal shot of dark chaos energy directly into his heart. If the first shot failed, there was nothing stopping him from trying again. Because by then, the blue hedgehog would be in shock anyway...

He went into his personal bathroom. He turned on the facet before wetting his hands with ice cold water and splashed his face with it. The gelid touch soothed away his temper, leaving him startled and lost. He looked up into the mirror and saw a frightened hedgehog staring back. His cheeks were pale, if a little purple from bruising, and his eyes were heavily diluted.

He swallowed down a cry and said softly, "I'm okay. I'll just walk this one off. My body will purge out whatever he's done to me…"

He stood; trembling like an infant as he slowly gripped the concept that he would be all right, that he was panicking for nothing. His breathing slowed and with it, his pounding heart also began to relax. After a few minutes, he even managed to try and smile. The whole effort seemed to spiritually lift him.

"The Doctor can't win."

Yeah.

A sense of invasion startled him anew. It set him off into more shivers from his insecurity. Though they were miles below him, he could sense that someone or something had invaded his territory, again. This was the third time this summer.

Shadow snapped.

Not only had his home and body been invaded, but now his territory down below as well. It could well be another trap set up for him, but he was so incensed and distressed that he was far from caring. He would go down there and obliterate any idiot who thought they could leave footprints on his land. Oh, he'd show them.

He straightened up over the sink, this sharp teeth showing between his lips. "I'll pulverize 'em so hard, that even the Gods that made them won't be able to tell what they were."

Despite his low energy, he warped out of the Ark without hesitation.

* * *

><p>Sonic just gaped.<p>

The robot looked like Tails. It had the propellers resembling the two tails to enable it to fly. It had the same fox snout and ears, but it was all metal.

It felt like a dream gone horribly wrong.

The tails robot set its sights on the organic hedgehog and charged straight at Sonic like a bull. A stream of red hot bullets spewed from its enhanced guns like rain.

Sonic spun and dived into the foliage. Though the forest didn't help his super-fast abilities, at least it had the potential to hide him.

He was proven wrong. The robot flew a little higher so that the sun shone on its gossamer orange coat. Then it changed its machine gun to a flame thrower. The nozzle blasted to life and at once the robot poured hot flames down on the forest. Despite the recent rain, the foliage set alight in a heartbeat. And the fire spread like a virus. Soon the red embers of death began to climb up the trunks of trees; devouring everything living as it went.

Sonic burst from the greenery, positively mad. The whole forest was at stake. He had to lead it away before it continued.

However, the sight of it made him hesitate. Why… why the hell did it look Tails? It even moved like him.

"Eggman, when will you stop making abominations?"

Like a comet, he blasted out of the forest in seconds. Slower, but with equally sharp reflexes, the mechanical Tails went after him without pause.

Sonic headed straight to Black Rock. That old country was lifeless. There would be no one to get in the way.

The Tails robot was a good distance behind him. It was too far too attack, yet near enough to keep up the pursuit. Even with the distance though, Sonic could still hear its rotors spinning round and round as the blades continuously cut through the air.

He didn't like this one bit. What scared him the most, was how close to Knothole that thing got.

_I should have brought my chaos emerald with me._

It would have helped. Maybe he didn't need it. Maybe with some good hard strikes, he could take it down?

* * *

><p>Shadow almost blacked out when he successfully teleported himself down to Black Rock. His nose felt wet, so he rubbed it with his hand, only to see it come away all bloody. He swore softly, wondering if he would be able to make it back up to the Ark again after re-establishing his rights to this part of the land.<p>

He managed to stand firm, and willed his shivers to cease. When he thought that had done the trick, he walked slowly forwards, intent to punish whoever had breached his sanction of madness.

He was plotting how to attack first. Go for the head or the throat? Sometimes a nice hard, direct hit to the chest could smash the ribs, sometimes killing the victim instantly and less blood would be spilt on his rocks.

He lowered himself behind a crop of large stones; ready to lunge when he saw them. He didn't know how many there would be, but two was sometimes the case.

He hadn't killed in a long time, and right now, he really needed to.

The hapless victim he was so desperate to disembowel happened to be one of his old friends. And one who he wasn't exactly keen on seeing again.

Rouge the bat.

Her strong profile was unmistakable, and so was her smell of perfume as it moved up the breeze in Shadow's hidden location.

She was strutting along in her usual confident manner, one hand on her hip, the other swaying loosely by her side. She was far away still. She was completely unaware of the hedgehog cowering behind some stones.

Shadow rethought his plan of attack and wiped away the last droplets of blood on his nose.

_What the hell does she want?_

Shadow gently stood and started towards her. It didn't take long until it seemed that she picked up his scent. She looked up in his direction and put on a glamorous smile. Then, as Shadow got even closer, she even had the nerve to put her arm up and wave.

He could hear her screaming across the downs, "Hiya Shadow! Oh don't you look grumpy this morning!"

His whole frame hardened. His face became as taut and sharp as glass. Now Rouge started towards him too, but more at a trot then a set walk. She continued waving like a teenager.

"Wahoo! Smile! I want to talk to you, hon!"

Once he had perceived that he had walked near enough, he stopped still and waited like a statue. Rouge floundered up to him as if completely drugged. She looked healthy and she was wearing blue eyeshade. He also noticed the thick lipstick glittering on her lips.

"Oooh, still the serious, quiet type, huh?" The words that came out of her mouth only added to the spice in his boiling rage. "And you look a little tatty. Just fell out of bed, hmm?"

"What are you doing here, Rouge? You know I don't hand out invitations. Scram."

Her go-lucky stature quickly crumbled, but she managed to retain her swollen smile. "My, what a nice greeting. It's good to see that you've kept your humor."

Shadow remained stolid and cold. "You're violating my space. Now you must leave."

Rouge looked even more disgruntled. Her smile vanished. "I came all the way up here you know. And for what? To see you, that's what." She crossed her arms across her bosom. "You could at least pretend you're surprised and happy to see me." Before Shadow could interrupt, she continued hastily, "what is it with this whole territory business anyway? You were never like this before."

"I am now."

They stared at each other. It seemed like an eternity. Then Rouge dropped her defensive façade and lightened up. "So, how are things? Keeping well?"

"Yes." He replied in a one word answer which he had no intention of expanding.

"Oh." Her whole posture went a little limp, even her strong black wings. "Shadow, you need to work on your manners. I want to be greeted better next time. Can we… can we talk or are you going to be awkward?"

"Awkward." He mirrored her posture by crossing his own arms.

Rouge cast a bitter gaze at him. "That's it, huh? Well, I sure as hell wasted my time coming here."

"Sure did."

Rouge cursed, which sounded unusual, coming from her. But just before she turned to leave, she caught something, and faced him again. "Shadow, your eyes look funny. Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes." He faced his back to her, and started walking away. Not that he had a place to go to, but he just wanted her gone. She always had a way of interfering. It was her nature.

"Shadow… wait! Come on! Hey, don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you! You, you big jerk!" She ran towards him for a few steps, then halted and watched him leave. It was no use pursuing him. It would only make him grumpier. But his eyes… they didn't look right.

She shook her head. Maybe she was seeing things.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay!" She called, "some of us care about you, you know!"

Shadow didn't look round. He kept on walking.

And walking.

Until he came to the soft downy world of the meadows, on the edge of Black Rock. There he sat down on the grass and thought things over.

Ever since his shock from looking at the computer screen, he hadn't felt sick. In fact, he felt normal. He felt fine, like he always had.

"Maybe it was all just a hoax." Eggman was possibly just trying to frighten him into working for him again. Perhaps the Doctor was desperate for another associate to carry out his plans, even if it had to be an unreliable one.

But if he was okay, and his body had perhaps cured him of the drugs Eggman had given him, what was all that crap on the computer screen?

Well, whatever was going on, he had to rest on the plains of Mobius for now. He was far too weak to make another attempt at entering his home, thanks to a certain bat. However, the suggestion of exploring a little more of this planet did lift his mood.

He stood and went forward. He was leaving his circle of territory for the first time since he had created it.

It was time for a little change.


	5. Chapter 5 How to Smash a Killer Robot

**Dib07: Yeah, another chappie up and loaded. Enjoy.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5: How to Smash a Killer Robot<strong>

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><p>The afternoon had got much hotter as the sun climbed down behind a set of clotted clouds. The astute temperature of thirty degrees began to rise. It was going to be another sweltering hot noon. But a hot noon neither of the hedgehogs would appreciate.<p>

The robot behind Sonic swerved and flew perfectly. Its supple body beheld no fault. But Sonic was planning as he ran. Perhaps if he tricked it, and caused it to collide into a hard object, that may just hinder it long enough to be destroyed outright.

Maybe.

It was tough. So far the plain around him was barren. He was running towards Black Rock, and if he had time to look up, he could see the ugly metal face of the Ark high in the heavens.

The robot began to open fire. Sonic had slowed down enough to close the distance between them, yet even then, the lazar fire failed to strike near him.

Sonic blasted towards the edge of Black Rock, near the grasslands and the small waterfall. That was when he saw him.

Shadow.

The dark creature had never looked so stunned. His eyes were wide, body standing in a neutral position. But Sonic had to leave him. He could not stop. If he did, the fox robot would burn him as soon as he was in range.

Shadow looked up and saw the Tails robot fly overhead. It did not seem to notice him, as if its sights were only programmed to destroy the blue hero.

The black hedgehog grunted, caught in what to do. So long as he had his power rings, he had the strength to chase it, but whether he still had the power to fight it off or not, he had yet to find out. It was no good ignoring the situation. Just what had Sonic gotten himself into now?

Shadow blasted off in a heavy power surge from his jet boots. They made him glide easily on the air, allowing him to reach incredible speeds. In no time at all he was skating beside his blue nemesis. The wind lashed at his ears. The turbulence made his eyes water. Sonic looked at him incredulously. His eyes were also shining with tears.

"Shades?" He said, "I suggest you stay away from me if you don't want to be a part of this. Either that or you could lend me a hand, pal."

"I'm not your pal."

"Suit yourself. I don't have time to argue." He sped up a little, intent on leaving Shadow behind. It would have worked, but Shadow charged forward even more, so that the two of them remained striding together as the robot pursued them resolutely.

"Why does this robot resemble your two-tailed friend?" He asked, lowering his voice almost conspiratorially.

"I don't know! I don't have time to explain! It just attacked, like they all usually do! Now are you going to help me or not?"

Shadow didn't reply straight away. Even if he wanted to help, he wasn't sure if he had it in him. He didn't even have the energy to make it back to the Ark.

"I'll help." He said regrettably at long last.

Sonic perked up a little. He was expecting a definite no for an answer. "Well, okay then." He nodded at Shadow. "Here's the deal. It's after me, so I don't think it'll go after you. I'm making a U turn in exactly two miles. That'll make it stop and re-calculate its route. That's when I want you to hammer it with all you've got."

They spread out from one another, so that if the badnik did open fire, it had less chance of hitting the two of them with one shot.

They left Black Rock and stormed down old soil that had gone so dry under the summer heat that it turned to sand under their shoes. They sent up dense fuscous sprays of grit and tiny stones.

"Now!" Sonic clamored. He ducked into his U turn. Shadow bitterly resigned himself to the task he had been given; though he accepted it reluctantly.

He set the path, saw the robot stop and turn to follow Sonic's new route. Saw the robot show its back to him. It was completely vulnerable.

Shadow caved into his ball and spun in the air so fast that his colors of red and black melded together. Spinning chaotically, he dived into the badnik with perfect precision. When Shadow fought, he always tried to go for weak areas such as the center of the opponent or the chest region. It often resulted in victory.

The Tails robot fell from the hit. It plummeted down to the floor, sending up waves of sand clouds. Its rotors still propelled it with motion even when it was on the ground. Then it turned round, targeted Shadow, and fired. The hedgehog dodged just in time. A massive blast of heat and energy struck where he had just been, scoring the earth with fire.

But the robot didn't stop. It fired again and again. Wherever Shadow landed, it fired, causing the hedgehog to move erratically to avoid being roasted.

The robot acted outraged, which was a little unnerving for Shadow. Robots were emotionless tin cans. So why did this one strike out as if it were angry?

Maybe it was designed that way, Shadow thought skeptically. Either way, the Tails robot ploughed out streams of fire.

"It's got to overheat." Shadow dodged its blasters, but he was too unsure to attack. He wasn't strong enough. If he got caught by one lazar from that badnik, he might lose an arm, or worse, a leg.

_Why did I choose to help Sonic?_

This wasn't good. This didn't favor him in any way.

The Tails robot came at him like an avalanche. It was at this moment that Sonic returned. Both hedgehogs bombarded the robot with spin attacks. The robot turned at an eighty degree angle and spun its rotors at them. Sonic stumbled away, finding that his knee had been cut deeply. Luckily he hadn't lost the leg in the process. Shadow had been luckier, as he had escaped sooner.

"Shadow, I want you to distract it again. Can you do that?"

Shadow didn't have time to answer. The robot came between them with powerful fists. Both hedgehogs darted in opposite directions to avoid being crushed. This time, Shadow was the slowest, and the shock wave catapulted him sky high, causing him to land heavily on dry earth.

Shadow blinked quickly, rather dazed from the attack. He had fallen on his side, which had saved him from damage.

With time on his hands, Shadow sprung onto his feet, and commenced another run. The robot moved like Tails, yet it beheld the qualities that Robotnik made when he produced badniks. Then together, as luck would have it, they found a crack in the ground big enough for them to slip into. It had would have been a bad idea, given their situation. The hole might have been shallow, allowing easy access for the robot to burn them out. However, the alcove was deep, almost cavernous, and this allowed them to have a forty second rest. Above, the robot was already shooting at the earth above them, probing the ground for weaknesses.

"Shades," Sonic ran a hand across his mouth, "you gotta chop its tails off and stop it from flying."

Shadow wasn't looking at him. He was looking down at his boots. The small, confined space under the earth made them squat down. There wasn't room to stand fully erect. "I can't."

Sonic looked displaced and his viridescent orbs widened significantly. "Come again?"

"I can't." He repeated darkly. I'm… I'm not ready."

The blue hedgehog frowned in what could have been disappointment. Above, the ground shook, causing dust and rubble to clatter to the floor. "We'll discuss it later." He addressed sharply. If you won't do it, I will."

They climbed out and burst into the open before they could be struck.

Sonic intercepted Shadow's path and they ran close together. The cold whip of wind slapping across their visage was getting unpleasant.

"I need to crash it." Sonic told him. It wasn't a suggestion.

Shadow stared at him acridly. "Why does it look like Tails?"

"I already told you, I don't know!"

Shadow grunted. "Think! When was the last time you were close to the Doctor's labs? Has Tails or any of your allies been captured recently?"

"What? No!" A tight frown creased his face, making him appear almost angry.

They split up, their slim bodies flashing under the sun.

The Tails robot aimed and fired. Its lazar beam struck the ground and a huge spray of sand erupted from the earth like a water fountain. Rocks and rubble tumbled down angrily.

Shadow flew. He wanted to dismantle this bastard of a robot, but he hadn't the strength. Not this time.

Sonic kept swerving gracefully. His movements were irregular, to keep the robot from guessing where he was going to go. Shadow stayed close, trying to think up a good plan that would end with them both being alive.

Killing Sonic now was stupid. They were contending with a killer bot that would soon turn on him if he eradicated Sonic now. No. Now wasn't the time to consider anything.

As he rode on his jet boots, he grabbed a rock and threw it like a torpedo at the spinning rotors of its flying blades. The rock bounced on the metal, causing the robot to slow and turn. The distraction suited Sonic's temper. He flew at the robot and spun into a sharp ball, grinding into the machine.

"Chaos spear!" Shadow angled golden spears that looked like jaded electricity. They cackled and smoke ran out of its mechanics once the spears had hit its target. To finish off the job, Sonic sped round the robot at super speed, creating a tornado. It clasped the robot in its twirl, making it confused and slow.

Finally, the robot, beaten and crippled by the critical hit, landed on the floor with its blades still spinning. Sonic, chuffed but still tense for a fight, was ready for seconds. He was breathing hard. Then…

"Mission terminated. Initiating destruction sequence. 10, 9, 8…" Its metallic voice sounded harsh and foul to their ears.

"Shit!" Sonic turned round and sped like never before. "Run!"

Shadow snorted angrily, glanced at the bot one last time, and bolted the way Sonic did.

The explosion came seconds after.

The huge whoosh of air came in a wave, knocking both Sonic and Shadow off their feet, despite the distance they had made.

A thunderous cataclysmic eruption followed as fire and smoke blithered in the air in angry plumes. It coiled out like a mushroom cloud, causing the blue sky to turn dark and brazen. A rain of shrapnel consisting of rocks, mud and sand splashed down, covering everything in dust. The eruption echoed endlessly down the land like a thunder clap.

Sonic lifted his head, his eyes bombarded with stars and redolent lights. Small rocks and stones bounced down on his body. He coughed when he breathed in the dust.

That was one mega explosion.

The fire in the far distance where the robot had imploded was too dazzling to look at, but at least he was alive. He had run far enough away from the full brunt of the force.

And Shadow?

Sonic went to move. He couldn't hear anything. The blast had deafened him, but he could still use his legs. He checked himself over for wounds, then climbed back to his feet.

The area around him looked like it had been under a war zone. Heavy impacts had scarred the ground. Small fires hungrily churned on hot debris from the robot and scorch marks littered the ground like bruises.

What a mess…

If that robot had gone off near a town…

His full sight returned, and the dizzying sparks faded into memory. The dust still seized in the air like an insect swarm, and the breeze pushed it upward in a fetid swirl.

Sonic looked about for his dark nemesis. He saw him a mile away from his location, but he was down on the floor and hadn't risen.

Sonic raced over to his black and red body, breath hitching morosely in his throat. "Shades?" He couldn't hear himself as he shouted to get a response from Shadow.

They had both suffered the most lethal explosion from a badnik he had ever encountered.

Beside him, Shadow started to stir. His eyes were hooded and he trembled when he rose on all fours. Sonic smiled and helped him sit up. Shadow spoke. His mouth moved to form three words, but Sonic didn't hear what they were. He was never any good at lip reading.

"I can't hear you, Shades." Sonic said, hoping that he was actually speaking out loud, "I can't hear anything."

Shadow looked up at him, face pallid and gaunt. He spoke again with something close to panic in his eyes. And anger.

Sonic shook his head. It was no use. "I can't hear you!" He sighed irritably, feeling trapped in his own deaf world where he couldn't hear a thing.

Shadow kept talking, and put both his hands up to his ears despairingly. Sonic cocked his head. Could Shadow be deaf too?

When Shadow looked up at him, Sonic touched his own ears too, hoping that Shades would understand. "Deaf." The blue hedgehog mouthed.

The dark creature nodded vacantly, and rested his own hands in his lap. He looked ambivalent and anxious.

Sonic gestured for him to stand. He wanted to get away from this place now that he knew Shadow was all right.

The black hedgehog positioned his feet below him and stood straight without too much difficulty but he kept rising his hands to hold his ears. It distressed Sonic to see him like this.

_It will pass. We'll get our hearing back soon. I hope._

Sonic started forwards. "Come on, I wanna leave." Shadow didn't follow. He stood, prostrated and lost. He was talking now, snapping his mouth in a bid to hear himself. Sonic had to move over to him and take his hand. Shadow didn't take kindly to the touch. He irefully pulled away.

"This way!" Sonic pointed to the west. Shadow nodded. This time he understood and when Sonic started running, Shadow followed without objection.

It was strange running when he couldn't hear. The cry of the wind was dead and empty. The sound of the birds was gone and the splash of feet on the earth was also forgotten.

He kept checking behind to see if Shadow was still following him. Then they left the barren deserts as they got closer to home.

Slowly, and with much relief, Sonic's hearing returned. It was gradual and dim at first, but then he could fully hear the natural sounds of the world again. "Thank goodness." He was going to be more careful with future robots from now on. What a disaster.

Sonic stopped in a forest with sparse trees. Most of them had died thanks to Robotnik grinding many down for energy.

Shadow halted a few feet from him. "Can you hear me now?" Sonic asked clearly.

Shadow peered up at him through his lidded eyes. "Partially. Can you hear me?"

"Yes. That blast must have blown an ear drum or two. Wanna skate back to Knothole? I gotta see if Tails is okay."

"He'll be fine."

Sonic set him a glare. "I gotta know!" They stood, discerning the other bitterly. Sonic wondered why Shadow was even here. Didn't he linger like a lost soul in the Ark? Or was that place too cramped for him now?

Well, he decided, it didn't matter.

"Gotta go." Sonic boomed away, and was gone in a flash. A whip of wind followed, and Shadow had to cover his eyes from the sonic blast. He was left alone, near the burning wreckage of what once was a perfect robot replica of Tails. He was caught between decisions. Kill Sonic, or to leave him alone, and die himself...

* * *

><p>Sonic shot across the landscape, leaving a fiery trail behind him. Mobius was becoming a dangerous place again. The Victory had set Eggman back, but he'd come for revenge. The main question remained. Where was the human hiding? Where could that bastard be?<p>

The prostrated climb to Knothole ended when he zoomed into the mettle cover of the Great Forest. From there he took a few sharp turns, jumped over logs and bushes, and wove his way into Knothole village.

He saw Sally helping Amy take in the dough and food into her cottage. Sonic felt a few splashes of cold rain on his cheek. It was starting to rain, sending all the Mobians seeking for cover from its asperity.

Sonic dove into the house, almost smacking against the wall panels. Sally looked up at him, her eyes hooded with puzzlement. "Son, are you all right?" She asked. Amy glanced over at him too and almost dropped the layers of soaked dough she was carrying.

"Where have you been?" Her belligerent clamor made Sonic frown.

"Don't you know? I was out there, fighting that badnik!" His lungs were heaving as he struggled to keep a hold on his emotions. "It looked just like Tails? Didn't you see it?"

"I did. I signaled for you for help, didn't I?" Sally stepped forward and took his hand. "Fortunately, no one was hurt, but what if that thing reported to Robotnik about Knothole?"

Amy gasped.

Sonic shook his head. "I smashed it into bits." He said, chastened. "But it could have been too late." He paused momentarily as the severity of the situation cast a gloomy spell over all of them. "What I want to know now is if Tails is okay."

"He's fine." Sally led him deeper into the bowels of the cottage and made him sit down on the dappled green sofa. Sally's house was a little overcrowded with trophies, medals, ornaments and the likes. Over the fireplace was a large framed portrait of her father; the King. Her voice was gentle, and not fraught with panic. "I checked on him earlier. He's a little shaken up so I told him to stay with Cream and her mother."

Sonic glanced up at her with appraising eyes. "Okay. But what if that robot signaled our location to Robotnik? We could all be in danger!"

Sally stood back, and her serene complexion creased with anxiety. Amy had a hand over her mouth. However the pink hedgehog regained some composure and said with strong conviction, "we have our defenses, right? Knothole has weapons! Doesn't that help?"

Sally looked over at her, and heaved up a plastic smile. "Oh course it will honey!" Only Sonic could hear the lie in her voice. "Everything's gonna be okay! You run along and tell Tails that Sonic is back. We need to discuss things alone."

She nodded lightly, her green eyes shimmering with tears. Sonic often forgot how easily she got upset. It was like handling a small basket of eggs.

"All right." She muttered sullenly. "But I wanna know everything that goes on here!" She huffed and walked out of the cottage. Sally didn't say anything until they could no longer hear the pads of her boots leaving the hut.

"Sonic, we need to think of something." Her blue eyes were wide with terror. "Right now Eggman could be marching here with his fleet of robots!"

Sonic stood up from the sofa and took both her shoulders in an icy grip. "We'll be fine. Activate the defenses. Tell everyone to stay in their homes. I'll watch Knothole. If anything gets in, I'll stop it."

She sighed. The princess hated being at a loss. "And if that doesn't do?"

"I'll contact Knuckles. Shadow might even help again."

Sally averted her gaze from his and shook his grip off her. "We need to plan for the worst Sonic. If Eggman comes, we need to get everyone out of Knothole as fast as we can."


	6. Chapter 6 This is How it all Starts

**Chapter 6: This is how it all starts**

* * *

><p>The sky was a foreboding black. The rain charged down with greater strength. By the looks of it, the rain would stay with them for tonight.<p>

"Wanna go for a walk?" Sonic asked the fox. He didn't mean to sound so firm, and the tone came out harsher than he intended.

"If you will."

Tails. Always the one to follow me.

He smiled a little. "Just kiddin'! I prefer to stay warm and dry!" They stood in the front doorway, watching the rain fall. The grass glistened and shone like moonshine. The direction of the wind shifted, and so did the rain, ever obedient to the current of the storm.

"Tails, I keep having this dream… it's kinda weird."

"Dream? What's it about?"

"I'm not sure. There's this tiny, weak flame in it. And it's always snowing. I can't figure it out. But every night… I have it."

"Maybe it's nothing, Sonic." Tails said, trying to sound cheerful. "Or maybe you miss the snow? And the campfires we have sometimes when it gets real cold?"

"No, no it isn't that."

As the inches of rain fell, a dark figure emerged from the vast showers and came slowly towards them at an unrushed pace. Sonic stood ready, not showing a hint of anxiety on his face. Tails stayed close, eyes narrowed at the approaching figure. They could smell the stranger before he appeared. The stench was familiar, like the leaves in autumn or the hard edge of metal you would smell in one of Robotnik's factories.

It was Shadow. The Ultimate Life Form.

The black hedgehog stopped when his figure became visual. The pouring rain didn't seem to affect him as he stood there like a sentinel.

Neither fox nor blue hedgehog moved. A sort of serene silence of respect fell between them as they waited for Shadow to announce himself.

A rumble in the sky reverberated in the deepness of the clouds. Shadow's eyes flickered once, then he walked up to Sonic uneasily.

It was Sonic who found himself speaking first. He was too impatient to wait on anyone else. Shadow's regal posture and sordid silence almost made him uneasy himself.

"Shades. You followed me here I'm guessing."

"I already know the location of Knothole." Came his flat reply. He did not look once at Tails who had by now gripped Sonic by the hand. "I wouldn't have needed to follow you. I only came here to seek shelter."

Sonic allowed Tails to tightly clench at his left hand. For some reason the black hedgehog still installed fear in him.

"Shelter? Here?" Splashes of rain dripped off Shadow in huge clusters. His fur was soaked to the core. "What about the Ark? You say you hate that place yet it's still your home."

"I know… but I need to spend some time on Mobius… if only for tonight." Shadow persisted. There were thousands of other places Shadow could have chosen. But being close to Sonic was far easier for his future plans, which the dark creature was still considering.

Sonic tapped his foot, a habit he often did if he were bored or deep in thought. "I dunno. I would like to invite you in… but with your reputation and all…"

"You owe me a kidney!"

At that, Sonic stopped tapping and Tails let his hand go. Old memories seemed to wash up on the shore of a black tide.

It had taken a long time for Sonic to forgive himself over the crimes he had performed some four months ago during the harsh winter of the Victory. Even now, he still had the nightmares.

"No, Robotnik owes you a kidney. Not me."

This answer did not settle well with Shadow. He stared. He did that a lot.

"Tell you what," Sonic added at length, knowing full well that Shadow was getting more and more wet the longer the conversation went on for, "there's a small hut you can use for tonight that's east of here. It's Sally's but she won't mind you using it. She built the thing for high guests or for creatures convalescing. She never used the damn thing."

Shadow nodded, but didn't look satisfied. "Okay. Show me where it is."

Another rumble crackled the insistent drum of the downpour. Sonic comically grimaced. "And get wet? No chance!"

For a fleeting moment between them, Shadow suddenly appeared upset and weary. That, or the rain made him seem bedraggled and gloomy.

"Oh all right! Come on and let's go before you catch your death out here." Sonic dashed out into the hard rain. It struck like icy sleet and his gloves and shoes quickly became saturated.

A hedgehog's eyesight wasn't much good in the near darkness, particularly if it was raining too, but Sonic found his way easily through the lush grass and oak trees that dominated this part of Knothole. Shadow skated close behind, and Tails, as loyal as ever, ran with them.

They were guided by the moon's light. Its silvery patterns journeyed over the grass like glass shimmers.

Tails shot covetous looks about him. "Sonic! Over there! The hut!"

The building was small and square. Much of the cottages in Knothole were round to prevent heat loss. This one, so neglected and forgotten, was thickly coated in vines and plants that had grown in a frenzy, blocking the small windows. Sonic fought tooth and nail to get the door open, and when he did, a huge cockroach scuttled out of its chambers. Tails yelped and hugged Sonic.

Shadow was the first to step inside. Behind him, Sonic walked in and flicked a light switch he knew was on the left-hand side of the wall. The electricity still worked using a generator down in the basement.

Light rattled to life in the hut, revealing the old rooms, furniture and ornaments.

Shadow looked about silently, a huge puddle of rain water at his feet as it dripped off him.

The putrid odor of dampness in the rooms was unbearable.

"It's not a four star hotel," Sonic explained, as if feeling that he needed to give an explanation as to why this place was so crap, "but you wanted a place to stay, and here it is!"

In truth, it wasn't all bad. There was a fire place set next to a bed, and leading from the bed was a kitchen with no partition. In the other room was another bed and a bathroom.

"It'll do." Shadow retorted facilely as he skimmed the room as if he were some inspector.

"Good." Sonic nodded, "and what shall you do in the morning?"

"I don't know."

Sonic sighed and shrugged his shoulders. So Shadow was staying in Knothole. It would be the first time and he tried to not let it bother him. So long as Shadow didn't become a psychopath overnight, they were okay.

"Let's go back home, Tails."

The fox and hedgehog returned back home, and they decided to go straight to bed without saying anything to Sally.

"Too much has happened today!" Tails moaned as he got into bed. "The robot… Shadow…"

"Hey, today was good!" Sonic said gleefully while he tucked Tails up. "You wouldn't want every day to be the same, would you?"

The young fox nodded, and his large eyes blinked tiredly as he edged towards sleep. "I don't trust, Shadow."

Sonic ignored the comment. "Good night Tails. See you in the morning."

He blew out the flame in the oil lamp in the fox's room and went to his own cottage (which meant that he got another soaking).

He kicked off his sneakers and threw off his gloves, so that his attire joined the clutter on his bedroom floor. Then he sunk into his car bed and fell asleep all too quickly.

* * *

><p>The ravaging force of penitence rang deep. The sky was littered with gales of pure white snowflakes. They flittered here and there like wondering butterflies trying to find a place to land.<p>

A muted menace lay in wait among the wintery malice of death. Something hidden in waiting.

Feeling oppressed, Sonic faced that white fire again. It bled coldly in some dank cave and produced no warmth.

"Looking at it every night won't help it grow stronger." Rang a deep, blazing voice. Unafraid, Sonic turned round to face this unseen speaker. A creature with small spikes and scales adorning its face lowered itself from the darkness. It was a dragon, but not of Dulcy's species. It was much, much bigger.

"What is this flame?" He heard himself asking.

"Why, it's your life force. Perhaps not now, but one day soon, it'll be all you have."

"What do you mean?"

The dragon fixed him with hard, uncaring eyes. "You'll understand. Just remember my star, trapped here in these caves. See what the star will do for you. _Look_!" Sonic glanced back at the flame, and with astounding speed it grew higher and bigger than before, and actually produced warmth. But then it was gone again, and what replaced it was the same dull spark as before.

"I don't understand!" He cried, but the dragon was gone. He was alone, and the same pain in his chest returned.

He woke on a wet pillow. He sat up in the morning light and looked out across his window situated above his car bed. His chest wasn't hurting despite his racing heart drumming softly against his ribs. It wasn't winter outside. The snow wasn't falling. It was summer. The days were long and hot. There was no dragon, and no weak flame.

Still, what on Mobius could it all mean?

He ate his breakfast of porridge oats and took a brief shower. Soon the bad dream faded completely like an unpleasant odor. Still, there retained a feeling that something bad would happen… someday soon.

The sun's mellow heat warmed the day.

Dulcy flapped her great wings and landed in amongst a school of kittens. Her landing still needed some work but very soon she was surrounded by curious youngsters asking her questions.

"What's it like to be a dragon?" Some would ask. "Can you see the whole world from up there?"

For the longest time, mammals had not been very fond of living alongside reptiles of any sort. So it took a long time for Dulcy to prove that she would always remain a loyal freedom fighter. After all, reptiles had been feared for so long, that respect was hard to find for a dragon such as herself.

Sonic entered the ring of children and led Dulcy away to a quiet area of the village. Sonic was quick to deal out the questions he asked her every morning and evening.

"So, any sign of the old Ro_bu_tnik? No robots? Patrols?"

Dulcy shook her large, green scaly head. "I saw a squadron in the Iron Falls, but there are always patrols there."

"What about Robotropolis?"

"Busy as always. They're not constructing anything new though. Not that I could see. You know I can't get very close in case I get spotted."

"I know." Sonic rubbed on his chin. "So, nothing new huh? Is all this peace we're having too good to be true?"

The dragon shifted her bulk to a little to the right and stretched her wings. Her lucid emerald membranes caught the light, making them glow.

"I think we better keep watch."

Sonic nodded and told her he'd chat later. Irritated and bored, Sonic walked away from the village and sat on the edge of Amber wood. The fields beyond smelt of sweet barley and wheat. Nutley was also a thrive of activity.

Sonic sighed and rested his head in his hands. Eggman was planning. What though? If nothing new had changed in Robotnik's factories, then perhaps he was building some sort of lethal weapon underground, so that it was harder to find?

Sonic hated waiting. He wanted action.

He thought of perhaps stealing into a factory and just causing mayhem. That would be an adventure, wouldn't it? But was that pushing Eggman too far? Would that provoke the madman to start another war? Plus, if Sonic got hurt during one of his adventures, it could spell doom for Knothole and everyone else out there.

It simply wasn't worth it.

_I have my blue emerald. Whatever Lardbelly's planning, I'll stop it._

The sun sat high in the heavens like a big fat orange. Its red embers coated the clouds and buoyantly colored the sky.

"You look almost as sad as me." Sonic's ears stood tall, and he looked around to see Shadow standing tensely behind him. His brow was furrowed as always, and his eyes were as sharp as blades.

Sonic coughed to clear the phlegm in his throat. "Do I? I apologize! Have a seat!" He indicated the spot beside him.

Shadow flexed his face muscles, obviously considering if it was worth sitting down beside his blue nemesis. Then, after what must have been a painful conclusion, he sat down beside Sonic and crossed his arms over his downy chest. He said nothing else. He waited for Sonic to speak. He often did that, and sometimes it got irritating.

"So," Sonic said, "you liked the room?"

"It was okay. I didn't have any nightmares."

Sonic frowned but refrained from asking about it. It reminded him of his bad dreams too.

He noticed Shadow shiver and raised an eyeridge. "So, why did you come here, to Knothole? Why not some other place?"

Shadow shrugged and didn't open his mouth to expel an explanation.

Nevertheless, Sonic continued. "And how did you find me way out here in the Amber woods? Oh, and please answer me this while I'm asking. Back at the Victory… how did you get all those reinforcements that day? All those reptiles and so forth?"

Shadow pursed his lips and unfolded his arms. Then he said quietly, "I asked them for my services. And in return, I would give them a chaos emerald."

"And?"

"They're still waiting for it."

Sonic drew back a little and sat up_. Perhaps that's the real reason why Shadow is here? To take my emerald? He knows I have the blue one._

"And what are you going to do?"

"Keep to my word. I will give them one."

They sat quietly together then. A few monarch butterflies twirled past and they watched a farmer inspect his bean and cornfields. The fields surrounded Nutley were growing vaster still, so long as Robotnik left them that way.

* * *

><p>Sonic returned home in the afternoon. It was hot and he was looking forward to downing a glass of cold water.<p>

He trotted up his stone steps to his cottage in Knothole after coming home from the Amber woods and turned on the faucet in his tiny kitchen. The water galloped into his stone mug and he gulped it down without pause.

He turned the tap off and was stunned to hear a sudden uproar of commotion outside.

Sonic dropped the mug on his wooden counter, eager to find out what was going on. Only a few seconds before, Knothole had been a serene, quiet place.

He took off and left his home to find gatherings of villagers swamp out of their homes to lay eyes on a red echidna stalk towards Sonic's cottage.

Sally was one of the onlookers, but instead of gawking like them, she rushed out to greet the emerald guardian.

From where Sonic stood, he could tell something was not right. Knuckles limped onwards like a war-beaten warrior, and he pushed Sally away when she came to succor him. His gloves were reddened with that could have been either berry juice, or blood.

It didn't take long for Knuckles to notice him. When he had, the guardian limped faster and almost toppled into the grass. "Sonic! Sonic!" The hedgehog was before him in an instant and held his arm, encouraging the echidna to stop and take a breath. "Sonic! The Master Emerald! It's gone!" His hoarse words flushed out a panic in all those watching.

Sonic glared urgently at him. "Take it easy and calm down! Everything will be okay!"

"No it won't!" The red echidna wailed angrily, not caring whether he was being watched by hundreds of villagers.

More and more animals left their hut to witness the crisis in their midst. Kittens and pups hugged their mothers and fathers tight.

Sonic looked up and shouted loud and clear, "everyone who isn't a freedom fighter, go back to your homes and carry on with your lives! There is nothing to see here!"

The groups stared resolutely in a disdainful way. Then slowly, two by two, they started to make their leave.

Sally helped by ushering them away and Sonic helped Knuckles to his feet, as he had collapsed again.

"What the hell happened?" Amy shrieked.

"He can't talk now. We need to get him inside." Sonic snapped a little too harshly. "Help me!" He added when Amy just stood there like a petrified rabbit.

The two of them guided Knuckles into Sonic's home where they sat him on the large brown sofa in the lounge. Knuckles cringed at the plastic feel of the sofa, as the material was very unnatural to him. Most things that were made out of plastic were generally stolen from Robotnik.

"Knux, take this." Sonic passed him a mug of cool water.

The echidna accepted it benevolently and took his time drinking.

Amy was biting her nails and quivering on the spot.

The guardian coughed and put the mug down on the oak stump for a table next to him. "The Master Emerald… it's gone…"

Sally heard this when she stepped in. Her face was wide and open like a frightened deer's.

"Was it Eggman?" Sonic heard himself asking impatiently.

Knuckles nodded. "Isn't it always?"

"How, Knux? How?"

The echidna growled feebly and he paused to cough. There were a lot of scraps on his knees and elbows, but nothing too serious. "An echidna robot attacked me when I was guarding the Master Emerald. It… it reminded me of the Metallix design…"

Sonic drew back, and his brow knitted together in thought. He remembered the fox robot. It hadn't seemed like a Metallix at the time… but…

Sally broke his train of thought. "It couldn't have been the Metallix. Robotnik stopped producing them because they had a tendency to have minds of their own. Plus they were flawed from the very designs Robotnik made them from."

"I know what I saw!" Knuckles rebuked in malice; "I'm not blind!"

Sonic blurted with intricacy, "then what happened?"

"It attacked me!" He yelped crossly, "what else do ya think? It knocked me clear of the temple, and I fought! I fought!" Sally rested her hand on his shoulder. "I couldn't do a thing! It was too strong! So I retreated. I had to warn my people living on Angel Island! Then, when I was trying to get everyone evacuated, the Island began to fall…"

Sally inhaled sharply. "So are you saying this robot took the Master Emerald?"

Knuckles dipped his head forward in a quick nod.

"Oh my Gosh!" Amy cried, "this is bad!"

"I'll go to Angel Island." Sonic alleged heroically, "and I'll recover the emerald. I'll destroy that badnik."

Sally looked grave. "You'll need some help, Sonic."

_Yeah. If it could beat Knuckles…_

"All I need is a power ring." Sonic stepped away from the echidna who was tasting more of the water in the mug. "Then I'll set things right. Where's my bag?"

Like most things which were material, the bag was made out of raw plastic. (Well, you wouldn't expect it to be leather, would you?).

He slipped it on and retrieved a power ring out of his toy chest. He had two more in there, and with only one coming out of the pool every twelve hours, he had a tendency to stash them for emergencies such as this.

"Be careful out there." Sally's sharp, authoritative voice made him jump.

She was standing in his doorway with her arms crossed against her chest but her eyes were dazzling with veneration.

"I will." He muttered in reply, mind adrift in other things. "No worries, huh?"

She wasn't convinced. She hardly ever was by his speeches. "If you run into trouble, come back here and we'll gather reinforcements. I don't like you going out alone."

"We can't afford to swindle our people, Sal. This is a job for a hedgehog!"

She didn't smile. Instead, she walked forward and kissed Sonic on the cheek. "Heed what I say. Be careful."


	7. Chapter 7 Sleep

**Dib07:** Thank you for all the reviews! The support is most welcome! A little late to update, but here it is.

* * *

><p>'<em>I marked when the weather changed,<em>

_And the panes began to quake,_

_And the winds rose up and ranged,_

_That night, lying half-awake.' _

_A Night in November – Thomas Hardy_

_**Chapter 7: Sleep**_

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><p>Knuckles had been telling the truth. It wasn't the fact that he had ever been a liar.<p>

No.

That trait ran mostly with humans.

But when Sonic saw that Island embedded in the soils of Mobius like a broken mountain, it was still hard to believe.

The Island sat squarely on the earth like a huge disk. Its sides were supported by crops of hills and rocky mountains so it hadn't leant too far to one side. Yet.

"Well, this is what you get for living in the sky."

Sonic had a good view from the side of a forest on a hill, looking out across plains of barren land, more crops (which were dead) and small stone dwellings. Here, Robotnik's patrols were more common. And rumors had it that the Arbiters had set up camp here to hunt and to rob.

His fists rested on his hips, mind racing to figure the best ways to get there. And the best ways to go to the temple, without being seen. That was if the robot Knuckles had described was still there. And if it would be still there, why? Would it be waiting for something? Or had it truly gone with the Master Emerald?

In the years gone by, Robotnik had made countless attempts to get his filthy hands on the Master Emerald. Each attempt, thanks to Sonic, had failed. Besides, Knuckles was the only one who could control the Master Emerald. So what point was it anyway to Robotnik except to smash it into a thousand pieces?

So what did he want with it now?

It was time he found out.

* * *

><p>Sonic zipped down the hill and kept to the shade where the shadows gathered and the thickets disguised his approach.<p>

Other than the abnormality of an island of land sitting perfectly straight against rocks and mountains, the area was languid and silent. The grasshoppers hummed and the warm air channeled down the hills in soft whispers.

The grass stalks looked brittle and dry here. Almost as if last night's rain never made it this far.

Sonic climbed up the raggedly hills with confidence when he reached them, and it took him a long time to reach the edge of Angel Island.

Angel Island was a foreign land with tropical jungles and strange fruits hanging from the branches of alien trees. The climate of Angel Island was warmer than that of Mobius, as the island was closer to the sun. It was only the winter that was harsher, as the sun dipped higher and ravaging winds stormed the landscape, attacking the very bones of the island.

Sonic waded through the long, wild grass that touched the tips of his elbows. Huge gaunt trees hung like curtains and strange insects buzzed past his ears. A weirdly colored beetle with purple and red stripes on its shell scuttled up a tree trunk with utmost urgency. Even the smells were different here.

Soon, Sonic neglected his duty of stealth and took a straight path to the temple. He had been here enough times to know where it was. Past the mushroom village, past the swamps until he reached the very heart of Angel Island, where the temple stood grand and senescent.

The mushroom village, so-called because its occupants dwelled in giant mushrooms, (they also called themselves the Emerald Hill Folk) was stunted with cries. Though no one was hurt, the animals were afraid. They had felt, and seen their Island crash, and they thought Robotnik was on his way to get them.

Sonic calmed them down by going through the village and sending words of encouragement. They all knew who he was at first glance, and when they heard him, the animals began to smile again. Some however, remained tense and worried. And no one knew what had happened to the Master Emerald or had seen a robot of any kind.

* * *

><p>The temple that housed the Master Emerald was made entirely out of stone from ages past. Knuckles once said that echidnas built the temple to protect the Master Emerald from the weather. It was also a place of worship.<p>

Worship what, Sonic never asked. Echidnas worshipped strange Gods, and he saw it fit to leave the subject alone.

Nevertheless, the temple was ancient. It was one artifact that had so far been preserved from Robotnik's destructive hands.

Long green vines had traveled up its stone work like fingers, branching out and covering the nicks and cracks that scarred its profile. A pillar in each corner of the rectangular temple was supposed to frame the Master Emerald with a thatched roof at the top. Now however, the roof looked diseased with holes and no Emerald sat in the center of the temple.

It looked deridingly empty.

"No sign of any badnik." Sonic grumbled. He had almost started looking forward to a fight. "But something must have taken the Emerald. It wouldn't just spring legs and walk off by itself."

The sun was vanquished by a few heavy clouds, causing the sunshine to drop into shadow for a few minutes as Sonic paced around the temple, trying to pick up tracks, or a trace of a clue which way it could have been taken. He was surprised the Master Emerald hadn't been smashed on the spot. Of course, Knuckles was always around to put it back together, so that would be a waste. Unless the mad human wanted to hide it.

Sonic's progress was turning stale. No clues.

The sun rose again over the canopy of cloud cover, throwing back its grand incandescent rays.

Sonic bent low and looked sternly at the grass for footprints. "Oh come on! That Master Emerald weighs what…? A ton? It can't have gone far."

A cricket jumped out from under his nose and bounded to a safer place to rest. The hedgehog watched it go, eyes as hard as emeralds.

"It's no good. I'll have to look elsewhere." He was starting to wonder if bringing Tails along would have helped any better. Someone with the ability to fly sure had an advantage.

He made to stand. At that instant it caught his eye.

Something small flashed in the far distance, but it was hard to make out. Sonic looked hard, hoping that maybe it was the Master Emerald glinting in the sun.

The distraction was fatal.

Something big and powerful hit him in the back and he tumbled across the grass, spinning and rolling uncontrollably. He tried to find his feet. Once he could do that, he could engage his speed. The second blow landed on his head.

Stars exploded in his mind. Thousands upon thousands of ugly, mottled red and white stars.

His vision doubled. Trees swayed like snakes. He saw two suns amongst all the violent blinking stars.

Sonic fell limp and shut his eyes. Even in the darkness, the blinding stars pulsed venomously, lending pain and confusion.

_Come on, Sonic. Get up_! Shouted the voices in his head.

_You didn't check to see if everything was safe. It's there!_

_Get up!_

_You are not quitting now!_

_Get the fuck… UP!_

The stars started to dissipate. The pain did not.

He felt like his skull was about to split open and he wouldn't be surprised if he was bleeding.

He saw the shadow of the enemy over the grass before him, and he rolled over just in time before a fistful of claws came slashing down. The claws racked up the earth and as it was lifted, clumps of soil fell from steel blades like pebbles.

Sonic stared upward, and saw the robot.

Its red tint on its metallic shell was unmistakable. Its black, pitiless eyes were as empty as cavernous holes.

Knuckles had been right.

It looked exactly like an echidna, and on its paws shone nothing but blades.

Sonic dived to the right as the badnik plunged forward like a dragon. The claws sliced into the ground again, but were pulled free effortlessly.

The hedgehog scrambled to his feet, and ran far enough to get some distance. The steel echidna stood and watched intently for a few moments, either curious at its adversary, or learning the creature's movements. Then it voraciously swept forward towards him like a rocket, and small jets alighted on its back.

Sonic dodged to the right.

The robot echidna came gliding at him at an angle. The fury of its poised claws came at him like a lethal sword. Time seemed to slow. Sonic managed to escape again, and returned angrily with his own turn of attacks.

He spun into his acclaimed ball, and hit the machine in the chest. The robot however, was packed with armor, which also absorbed the force of Sonic's assault.

It swiped its paws at the hedgehog and grass and leaves shot up in a flurry as Sonic changed course, uncurled, and narrowly avoided the claws. He dropped, rolled and took off his bag. It was time for the big guns.

The power ring, though cold to the touch, was as heavy as solid gold. And its weight brought comfort to those who needed it.

The delivery of power was instant.

Pure energy swelled up and around Sonic like a fire. A fire he just had to use. For the power did not last.

The robot echidna was not expecting such an advantage. It thought it had its target in a death throe. Sonic grinned as his nailed his spines upon it. It was a grin of hate.

The ring lent him protection. Supreme agility and power. It was like being touched from the gods above, and in those few seconds, Sonic felt close to invincible.

He spun at the echidna so fast, that the robot couldn't move out of the way in time to save itself from damage. The blow it received was devastating. As Sonic zipped past it in a flash of red and blue, the hedgehog had torn off its right arm in a haze of bolts and spurting oil.

The mechanical arm dropped off and crackled with electricity. The fingers on the hand still moved, still powered by gears and memory.

At the shoulder of the metal beast, smoke and oil poured from the socket. Flutters of blue sparks pulsed in the open wound. Sonic thought the echidna badnik was done.

He landed a whole tree length away from the robot, and felt the power of the ring leave him. He hated the ending of such truculent, covetous power. Without it, he suddenly felt weak as he returned to himself.

He dropped the ring, which was now useless to him. It hit the floor as nothing but a band of gold.

The robust metallic creature did not change its demeanor after losing its right limb. In fact it attacked just as efficiently as before, as if losing an arm was hardly worth taking notice of.

It continued its charge, and headed at Sonic like a bull at full acceleration.

Sonic decided to meet its charge. How much harm could a one-armed robot do?

He had but seconds before it came hurtling at him.

Sonic curled up into a ball and began revving up, taking on a diagonally pivoted, ovular shape. Once unleashed, Sonic blasted forwards in a high acceleration roll to mow down his enemy.

The two of them collided.

The impact only lasted moments. Both robot and mammal came together in a brutal clash. Blood sprayed in the air, and flecked the surrounding rocks and grass, looking as though they had been dabbed with red paint.

Sonic uncurled from his ball, and tumbled down a steep hillside a few yards from the stone temple. The hill was made out of chalk and granite, making it an uncomfortable fall. And when he landed at a halt, his head was pounding in pain far worse than before. That, and he saw blood on his cotton gloves.

The sides of his vision started to feather in darkness. Sonic passed up a few coughs and tried to stand. His strength failed, and he slumped back in the same place.

Behind him, he heard the robot approaching. It had obviously survived the clash, and had come out of it better than the hedgehog.

He gritted his teeth together, pulling a long grimace. A growl surfaced in his throat as he attempted to push himself upward. His arms shook.

When he dared to look down, he saw that from his right arm, down to his leg, he was smeared with bright red. The red of blood.

Sonic's jade pupils constricted to pinpricks. His muzzle drained to a feeble white.

"Holy moons of M-Mobius! Nooo!"

The robot was barely meters from him. It shunted forward, ready to deliver the finishing touch.

"No… n-not like this…" The injury had been unlucky. He had made a wrong move. His head tilted forward, and all he could suddenly see was black. He felt himself blinking, but he couldn't see a damn thing.

The echidna, built and rendered to bring pain and death to the animals, raised its remaining arm upwards. A simple slash would do the job.

"Get away from _him!"_

The strange voice sliced through the warm air, and seemed to thunder with shuddering strength.

The metallic machine was hit from behind. Its sensors had not picked it up.

Shadow spun, and cut his leg through the air at a one eighty-degree angle. The back of his heel struck the echidna in the cranium, bringing it down. The echidna however, was far more vigorous than it looked.

Its eyes burned bright white, and twin lasers beamed out of his sockets like headlights.

Shadow malignantly stepped aside, and the beams strayed until they torched a few trees behind them.

"Piss off!" Shadow broke through his replete manner, grabbed at the android's legs and threw it with all his might down the hill from the temple. The sepulchral sound of its fall pleased Shadow's ears. The metal clanged. Bolts creaked and snapped. The hill however, wasn't a steep one, and soon the echidna was back on its feet as before. Its mettle was uncanny. The robot's endurance reflected the material it was made from.

Shadow didn't have much time. Though he was belligerent and strong, he did not want to risk injury. That, and the poison Eggman had injected him with was so far bogging down his system… for now. He was still thinking that he would outlast it, like he did everything else.

Shadow stood a few moments more, waiting for the echidna to return. It did not.

Lying still among the coarse grass at the foot of a chalk mound, was Sonic.

Meanwhile, the blue hedgehog was locked in shocked alarm. His torso felt irascibly numb, and he could barely move. Even twitching his fingers was a struggle.

"No… N-Nooo…" He couldn't remember how he had got like this. Shock and blood loss had a habit of making one's mind reel into panic.

He clutched at soil and grass. He saw lots of blood on his gloves. Lots of blood. He hated blood. Hated it nearly as much as Robotnik.

When he felt unfamiliar hands on him, he cried out. The robot was back! It was going to decapitate him like all SWATbots were built to do.

"No!"

"Easy, hedgehog."

That voice? "S-Shades..?"

Sonic was wrapped in strong black and red lipped arms. He was gently turned over, so that he stared up at the sky. At his rescuer.

The black hedgehog glared down at him, his face dark and stolid. Even in the direst of times, Shadow somehow remained calm and distant.

"Shades…" Sonic coughed shallowly. The hedgehog could only see a little and he took in small breaths with great difficulty.

As Shadow stared on, Sonic's eyelids simply became too heavy to hold up. Sleep was a far easier thing to do. And sleep Sonic did.

In the cooing darkness.

From the pain.


	8. Chapter 8 Lupe's Disposition

**Chapter 8 Lupe's disposition**

**/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/**

The sun was dipping lower down into the hills. The golden hue of the cornfields dulled, turning into a muddy brown. The deepening afternoon warmth was failing as the wind cut across Knothole.

Tails sat on a bank, knees drawn up to his chest. He was listening to a raccoon read a tale to the kits before their teaching was over for the day a few yards from him further down the green slope.

The children were seated round her in a semi circle on the lush grass. All of them intently listened to her, none of them uttering a word.

"A long time ago," the female raccoon was saying as she read from an old scroll, "our planet Mobius was like a paradise with the benevolent King Acorn as its ruler. Everyone and everything lived in peace. There was no need for greed. No need for trouble. No need to argue. That was until… the coming of the evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik." Now the children began to whisper excitedly.

Tails sighed and sniffed. Bright tears clung against the fur on the edge of his eyes. The world before him moved gently in a haze. "It's no use crying." He told himself without conviction. "It's not going to help."

He heard someone approaching. He could hear the sound of grass stalks being crushed and the snap of a twig.

Tails looked up, eyes sparkling with sorrow. Shadow didn't meet eyes with him at first, and instead kept his gaze on the school hut a mile down near the river. He folded his arms and stood close to Tails like some somber guardian.

"Sonic's going to be all right." He said in a whisper.

Tails brushed away a few water droplets onto the sleeve of his glove. "Really?"

"Yes." He answered blandly, and then fell into a deferential silence.

Tails hiccuped and blinked, taking in slower breaths. "Can I see him?"

"Not yet." Shadow replied forcibly. "The princess is looking after him at the moment."

The young fox nodded, suddenly looking a little more crestfallen since Shadow had cheered him up.

They saw Knuckles heading towards them from his small hut that he was currently staying in while his minor wounds healed. All that was left were small bruises, and his posture looked confident and strong as he strutted down the grass and up the slope to meet them. Tails began to smile.

He had grown fond of the echidna since the guardian and Sonic had become good friends. But his shy smile dropped when he saw Amy sulking silently behind him. Her eyes were gazing down at the ground and her hands were knotted in fists. The top of her red dress was smeared in teardrops.

Knuckles stopped before them and sat by Tails. He was quick to place a great big paw on the fox's little shoulder. "Hey kid! How are you holding up?"

Tails nodded modestly, but inside he was full of painful anguish. He had only seen Sonic once so far after the accident that Shadow was stern to keep quiet about. The blood he had seen had been horrific. He would have fainted if Knuckles had not gripped him by the hand and led him outside to the edge of school where he now sat.

"Okay… I guess…" He responded meekly.

Knuckles nodded and grunted in satisfaction. "Can you look after Amy? She's been absolutely hysterical, haven't you, old girl?" He turned to her then, and Tails saw that her eyes were red and puffy.

Amy didn't even pass up a scant nod. Stiff and unreadable, she kept her eyes focused on the ground.

Knuckles gently chided her over to Tails, and she sat down abruptly like a sullen child. She crossed her legs, slumped down and continued to glare tearfully at a rock beside her foot.

The echidna focused his attention on Shadow now that he didn't have Amy on his back. As soon as the rumors had spread, the pink hedgehog had been screaming at him for information. Had been screaming to see Sonic until she had gone hoarse. Had been screaming in rage and despair. Knuckles could not tell her anything. Nor could she see Sonic.

"He's fine!" He had to shout back at her earlier in his hut, "he's got a little paper cut, okay?"

"So why can't I SEE HIM?" She would clamor hatefully in return.

"Because he doesn't want you to see him with a fucking paper cut!"

And so it had ended like that. Now Amy had lost her voice, and couldn't scream or cry anymore.

"Shadow," the echidna began dryly, "what happened to the Master Emerald?"

"I don't know."

"Why don't you know?"

They stared begrudgingly at one another.

The black hedgehog's lips curled. "All I saw was the badnik you described to Sonic. Large. Red. Metallic. Just. Like. You."

Knuckles mirrored Shadow's posture by folding his arms too. "So you're blaming me? Just because I look like that thing?"

"Get over yourself! Don't you understand? I saw no emerald! I had to get Sonic out of there you fool!"

Knuckles growled, but didn't protest. He had two youngsters at his feet and he didn't want to upset them.

"Where do you think it took my Master Emerald then?" He asked. The wind charged up the slope, catching his dreads in the breeze. They swayed and flickered like reeds.

"I have no idea. I don't even know why the Doctor would bother." He answered truthfully. They all knew that the human had tried taking it before, only to have the animals reclaim it after the human deemed it to be of no use.

"Maybe it's just to make us angry, or he's thought of something else." Knuckles pondered deeply, but could come up with nothing. At length, he said prudently, "we need to discuss what we should do with everyone. Then we can think up a plan to get it back!"

"If you wish." Shadow shrugged in disinterest.

Knuckles showed his teeth. "My people are on that island! If we don't get my homeland back into the sky soon, Robotnik will harm them! Okay? A reprisal is in order!"

/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/

Shadow woke up in a sweat again in the middle of the night.

He felt like he was going to sick up his guts, so he went to the bathroom where he expected the toilet to be.

It wasn't there.

He hadn't got used to Knothole's customs. To use a toilet, you had to go outside into a sandpit to do your business. He didn't know if the same rules applied to the royals (aka Sally). So you would squat in the darkness, get over with and cover it up, but Shadow didn't like it. Back home in the Ark, there was a toilet. And he was so used to using it that he had forgotten what it was like to live wild.

So Shadow crept outside in the darkness in his shoes and gagged up vomit in the grass at the back of his hut. Fuck the sandpits.

Ever since he had come to Knothole, he had been feeling from bad to worse. The Doctor had injected him with something lethal, he could only be too sure. And whatever it was acted quickly and strongly. Shadow actually wondered if his body could flush it out of his system.

He heaved another bout and his previous lunch landed on the ground in splashes. He felt so sick.

The dreams had been uncomfortable and the bed he slept on didn't help. They used straw for padding! That explained the itchiness he got every time he laid down on that thing. And the food…

They lived like dinosaurs. Prehistoric mammals that should have died out long ago. They only lived on because they hid like mice. MICE!

Shadow thought that his stomach had stopped acting up so he started to head back. he was wrong.

Another urge stopped him and he was back to throwing his head down and coughing sharply. Bile oozed from his mouth, leaving a bitter aftertaste in his mouth.

"Gotta… gotta lay down…"

At last it stopped and he was able to breathe.

What… what the fuck is wrong with me?

Why wasn't he getting better?

Then he heard the Doctor's words on the wind.

'You have to do two simple things. Two! First, find and kill Sonic! Then take his fucking emerald! Understand! Bring the emerald to me, and in return, I shall reverse the effects of the poison.'

Shadow wiped his mouth and went back inside, slamming the door of his hut. When he walked back in, it was dark. Artificial lights did not come on, provoked by motion sensors.

No.

He was in a primitive world now. No such technology here.

Shadow wondered if he should try reaching the Ark again. It had advanced medicine there. What if that could help the poison the Doctor had contaminated him with?

But at the moment the risk was too much. He was still weak. Weak and stuck in Knothole.

He bumped into a table, then whacked his knee on the bedpost. "Fuck's sake!"

Can't fucking see!

He found his bed at last and plopped on top of the covers. This time he was too lazy to take off his shoes. In a matter of hours before daylight, he would be out there again, throwing up, so what was the point?

"I am not going to hurt Sonic…" Even though the bastard had ruptured a kidney and he could have bled to death on the inside. "And I will not steal his emerald… There must be another way to conquer this substance… there must be…" He lowered his eyelids. The unfamiliar smells and sounds of this place made him very homesick. "Honestly… what's the point of a bathroom if you can't even…" He trailed off and dropped off into a light doze before he managed to finish.

/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/

The following morning, Sally stood by the window, looking out sadly. She had kept herself inside the hut since Shadow arrived with Sonic in his arms. Knuckles hated to see Sally cooped up like this.

The princess leaned against the edge of the wall, eyes focused on what lay outside. "I've called for a meeting, Knux. We're going to gather all the remaining freedom fighters. And we're going to discuss our future."

Knuckles was surprised. A meeting? Now? Soon? With Sonic injured and the Master Emerald missing? Surely she was kidding?

"Princess," he started hesitantly, "why and when will this meeting occur?"

"The day after tomorrow, Knux." She avoided making eye contact with him. "Because we need to do something. I'm tired of waiting around, waiting for that evil fat human Robotnik to make the first move. And I think he already has."

"We'll get the Master Emerald back. Is it really necessary to bring everyone here…?" He raised his brow and cocked his head slightly.

"Of course it is. We are united are we not? We are freedom fighters, are we not?"

"Yes… but…" Oh, what was the point in arguing? Sally had obviously made her decision. Had taken charge of the operation. Knuckles was a guest in Knothole. He had no right to go about printing his opinion and thoughts on others.

He reluctantly accepted her plan.

Maybe getting the freedom fighters together might do some good?

/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/

The day of the meeting was a summer afternoon that was incandescent and hot for the animals of Knothole. But instead of sheltering in the cooler shadows and retreating to the river, the village was a thrive of activity. The freedom fighters from different parts of Mobius had arrived and everyone had come out to respect the soldiers of freedom.

Sally awaited them by the cabin, which was designated to be their meeting place. Beside the door were poles establishing flags depicting the image of King Acorn on a vibrant red background. Since the day was so still and hot, there wasn't enough wind to lift the flags, so they clung against their poles like wet cloth.

Tails had been loitering around outside near the school, his mood cast over in shadow.

Meanwhile, Lupe had arrived in Knothole after a long day of travel. She was flanked by her mate, a red-furred wolf named Lobo. And behind him were two wolf soldiers. Canus and Lyco. Canus and Lyco held flags depicting the head of a wolf and they walked rigid and proud. Fearless representatives of their wolf queen and her power.

Lupe bowed haughtily when she came face to face with princess Sally Acorn. Sally mirrored the bow in return, doing her best to be as polite and welcoming as she could. Beside her were her own guards.

"I am pleased to see you, Princess Sally of the Acorn family." Lupe announced strongly. She was queen in her own right as well. She bordered the northern coasts of Mobius, and she was ledrene of the last wolf pack of freedom fighters. Her lineage was short but she had the blood of a warrior. She had participated in more battles than Sally had ever been in.

And it showed.

Across her muzzle and under her eyes were crinkled scars dappling her grey fur. If it would not have been for the scars, Lupe would have looked divine with unmarred beauty.

The two royals shook hands.

It was the females who took charge.

The females who were the queens.

They thought themselves as the hierarchy over males and this same rule applied in almost all the animal colonies of Mobius.

"How are things, ledrene?" Sally asked as they broke away from their handshake.

"Poor." Her somber eyes did not move away from hers. "But isn't this what we came to discuss. My feet are tired and my comrades were weary. We seek respite."

"Of course. And so shall you have it." Sally gestured them towards the cabin. On the cabin door was a note nailed in the center stating crudely; 'Freedom Fighters only.'

Lupe and her company went in.

Inside, the meeting room was only just large enough to accommodate all the freedom fighters.

There was a great long oak table where Lupe sat at the far end, and Sally sat on the other end.

Dulcy poured drinks into cups, with jugs containing elderberry juice, mead, fruit juices or just simple tea.

The table was absolutely covered with plates full of food. From all manner of summer vegetables and fruits to nuts, honey and pasta. The air was heavy with the smell of roasted nuts, basil and ginger.

Lupe was picking at her claws, with her partner Lobo at her side. He was not allowed to say a word unless Lupe gave him permission.

Sally bowed, heartened at the sound of cheers and the bay of excitement. Then she rose her hands up to still them. They silenced themselves so quickly that the hush afterwards sounded almost painful.

"I'm so glad we've gathered here today," she began, looking over at all the faces of the freedom fighters proudly, "to discuss our values and ideals. We need to band even tighter together if we are to defeat this evil in our land. I am sure that with our combined strength, we can defeat that evil for good!"

There was a brisk cheer, which faded back into silence quickly.

Sally smiled and her heart lifted. There weren't many freedom fighters left anymore, but she was glad that they were now here, together. Maybe they could realize something. For they were a force to be reckoned with!

Lupe said a little coldly. "I want to discuss plans. Yes?"

"Of course!" Sally politely put down her oak fork and stone knife. "What would you like to discuss first?"

The noise at the table that had started since eating had begun, was suddenly dented by tranquility as they listened to the two leaders. Most still continued to eat, as no official declaration had told them to stop.

"My people on Cold Mountain are dead." Lupe said.

"How so?"

"You want the details?" Lupe cried louder. "While you people here scoff your faces and lay about like lazy skunks in the sunlight, my kind is murdered!" She had now stood up and slapped her paws down on the wooden surface. "My people were lined up. Lined up like slaves by SWATbots! I told them to hide in the mountains! The winter makes it harder for Robotnik's evil henchmen to travel, see? But no, they found their village. So they lined them up and shot them."

A few freedom fighters gasped in horror. Amy looked as if she was about to throw up everything she just eaten.

"One of my people managed to escape." Lupe growled. "And reported to me about it. As you can probably tell, I was very, very angry."

Sally clasped her hands together, eyes welling up with tears in sympathy. "I'm so sorry for your loss." She declared with feeling. "I had no idea…"

But Lupe wasn't finished. "It will happen to every village soon! Cold Mountain was attacked two weeks ago. I don't know why. We had down nothing to call such attention upon ourselves, but even now Robotnik's forces are stalking us! Hurting us! WE MUST DO SOMETHING!" Her claws dug into the wood in the table. Her teeth gleamed in the candle light.

"And we shall!" Now princess Sally was on her feet. "This is why I brought you all here! To help each other! To come up with plans!"

"Plans? PLANS?" Retorted the wolf ledrene wildly, "oh, I've got a plan. And it's a good one."

"What is it?" Sally asked her.

Lupe looked straight at her, her long silver tail whipping at the air in melodious patterns. "We must destroy the chaos emeralds!"

At that there was a storm of voices. Now everyone wanted to be included in this argument. The throng of noise grew higher and higher.

Still, Lupe's voice commanded them all. Her voice sat wedged upon all others. "If we destroy them all, then Robotnik can't use them either!"

"Yaarrrh!" Cried Canus.

"Smash 'dem useless gems!"

"Silence!" Sally screamed. At her request, all freedom fighters stopped arguing. When she had made sure she had everyone's attention, she said harshly, "that plan will never work! You want to destroy an emerald? Oh, we have one. A blue one. Destroy that, then what do we have to defend ourselves? I'll tell you, nothing!"

The wolves started bickering among themselves. Amy was screaming about how ludicrous it was even thinking about smashing an emerald.

"I understand," Lupe barked, "but the emeralds are evil, just like Robotnik. We still do not understand their power, so it is deemed dangerous to use one."

"Maybe you don't know how to use them," Sally said hotly at the wolf, "but my freedom fighters do and have done for years!"

"Pah? Freedom fighters?" Lupe hoarsely spat, "that may very well be, as this is about us."

Lyco howled mockingly over his plate of tomatoes and fish. His chin was slobbery with saliva, making him not a pretty sight.

"We have to stop Robotnik." Sally mistakenly started to relax a little. Lupe rattled on, voice growing harder.

"How do we do that? With your mate… Sonic… oh, how can I put this gently...? Out of action… who do we turn to now? Rumors tell you a lot." The female wolf snapped. "Heard the Master Emerald was stolen." Lupe looked to all of them. "What if this has been Eggman's plan all along? To snatch the Master Emerald? To kill Sonic? Robotnik's not cowering in a base somewhere, thinking of revenge! We're already suffering his anger! We've got to do something!"

"I know, that's why Princess Sally summoned us!" Bunnie hollered.

Slowly, the noise level started to diminish. Sally found her voice. "Yes, the Master Emerald was stolen, and yes, Sonic got hurt."

Lupe, eyes as icy and sharp as steel, nodded reticently. "We must get it back." She said.

"He took it using a robot." Shadow said softly, and suddenly wished he hadn't spoken. He didn't relish the attention either. "It was in the appearance of an echidna. It surprised the guardian and took it, despite Sonic's attempts to stop it."

"And Sonic's accounts on this day?" Lupe asked uncouthly.

They all went silent.

Lupe wasn't satisfied. "The Master Emerald is gone. It contains a lot of power. And now Robotnik has it in his possession. We are doomed."

"Not quite." Sally said. "We could form an expedition! We could send some of us out there to retrieve it!"

"It would have to be a small operation." Shadow imputed again. "Robotnik mustn't know. A few travelers can hide. A bigger group would be caught more easily."

Lupe shook her head. "I'm not risking my people for this. It's suicide."

"And we don't even know where Robotnik has taken it either." Bunnie said.

Shadow scoffed. "He probably took it to his domain. Where that fat bastard lives."

Bunnie shrugged hopelessly. "But nobody's ever found out where he is. Nobody. It's a mystery. If we knew where he was… it would be a lot easier…"

* * *

><p>Dib07: Please add your comments! Thanks for reading!<p> 


	9. Chapter 9 Outcast

**Notes: Arbiter = animal followers of Eggman who believe overlander technology is the way forwards. Their religions are different, and all others who believe differently are seen as primitive dwellers who deserve to be killed.**

* * *

><p><strong>C<strong>**hapter 9: Outcast**

'I close both locks below the window

I close both blinds and turn away

Sometimes solutions aren't so simple

Sometimes goodbye's the only way.'

- Shadow of the day – Linkin Park

* * *

><p>Leaving Knothole seemed the only option available, but they still had to wait for word on what the leaders would propose. But they never got round to saying it because the comforting tranquility of the village was shattered by a long, winding cry that sounded close to a scream.<p>

"What the hell?" Knuckles, wild and alert, looked for the source of the calamity. Shadow perched up right on tiptoe, gaining some height to spy across Knothole. The scream had come from the thick belt of trees where Lupe had gone.

Lupe emerged out from the forest, but she wasn't alone. In her claws she was dragging another creature. A creature none of the freedom fighters recognized.

Princess Sally ran over the long grass, panting in the heat. "Lupe!" She shouted, voice on the edge of hysteria, "who is that?"

"Keep clear! All of you!" The wolf said, snarling at the townspeople that had come out of their dwellings and farms to see what the commotion was all about. "You don't know where this thing's been!"

She held onto a sandy colored weasel who struggled venomously in her clutches. It was a small creature wearing light padded armor and a red scarf round its neck. It spat and cursed an anything and everything, kicking out with its paws and scuffing up the grass and earth near its toes.

Sally met up with all the other animals crowding round to get a good look. Even Canus, Lyco and Lobo came out of seemingly nowhere to see what was happening. "Where'd you find him?" Sally asked, "he's not one of ours."

Lupe started taking off the creature's armor. The weasel tried to spit in her face. "Fuck you!" It screeched, "fuck all of you little bunnies! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

Lupe untied the sheathing across its chest and the husk fell onto the floor revealing the Eggman logo tattooed onto the weasel's furry chest.

"That weasel's an arbiter!" Gasped out a porcupine, "kill him!" A chorus of angry voices oozed upward like an infectious disease.

"Wait!" Sally said, holding up her hand. "Lupe, where did you find him?"

"Out in your woods." She said. "I saw his eyes. As bright as sapphires they were. Are you sure he is not one of yours?"

"How dare you suggest that!" Sally hollered, "Do you see any of us wearing Eggman logos? Huh?"

"Quiet!" Knuckles shouted at the crowd who were mouthing off at each other as panic mounted.

"What if there's more of them?" Bunnie asked the question from somewhere in the back.

Dulcy left the crowd. "I'll go and see if there's more of them."

"I'll help." Said Tails, and went off with the green dragon.

"What does it matter you fuckballs?" The weasel kicked and slashed, absolutely full of energy, "scared now? Are ya? Scared we'll slit yer throats?" He obviously showed no fear in the presence of his enemies.

No fear at all.

"What's your name?"

"Outcast." The weasel replied simply.

Sally chuckled darkly, "all right Outcast. You tell us where your idol, Robotnik is!"

"Tell you where me' messiah is?" The eggman follower giggled. "Come 'ere and I'll fuck yer children and shit on yer eyes!"

Lupe tightened her grip and the weasel yelped sharply. "Watch your mouth you evil minion of evil!" She roared. The weasel just glared hatefully at her and everyone else.

"I hope you all die of disease." The arbiter said, uncaring about his end and for a chance at freedom.

"I'm sure you have family, Outcast." Sally continued. "If you don't tell us where Robotnik is, I'm afraid we'll have to kill the ones you care about."

At that the weasel stopped struggling and hung limp like a kitten. "You couldn't find them." His words were poison.

"I would." Challenged Sally blithely. "We freedom fighters know where your camps are. Your hideouts. There are more of us than you think, so even when you move your camp again, we'll still know where you are."

This trick seemed to work.

The weasel had to stop and weigh his options. His small shrill voice was stilled, if only for a whole minute.

"Leave me' family alone." He spat at last, "and I'll tell yous!"

A murmur of appeasement rippled through the crowd of villagers.

"Our great Messiah holds his home and fort to the Wayland." Outcast snapped maliciously.

"The Wayland is massive. Tell us where in the Wayland." Knuckles ordered.

The weasel grinned, barring his scrawny fangs. They were a mouldy yellow. Some had gone rotten and there were gaps where a few had fallen out. "North. North of the Wayland past the rocky fissures. In the mountains!" He began to struggle again, causing his red scarf to loosen and fall off.

"Liar." Knuckles whispered to himself.

However, Sally sounded like she believed the weasel. "Hmm. The mountains huh? That's a long, long way. Would he really take the Master Emerald all the way there?"

"I suppose so, you wretches!"

Sally turned and gave orders to her forces. "We'll tie him up, and we'll assign a guard to watch him. To keep him busy he'll be tasked to do chores. Okay?"

Outcast was chained to a wooden pole with Shadow on duty watching him. The weasel was stripped of all possessions, including a small ivory knife, a sachet of gold stones, a flagon of water and a sack of meat. All that Outcast wore now was the tattoo of Doctor Robotnik, gleaming red on his chest. All the minion was given in return was a bowl of water and a plate of pears. He even had the solacing shade of a tree to keep him from feeling the heat. And as animals walked past him carrying buckets of water or bails of hay, not matter how far, Outcast would throw curses and insults at them all day long.

Midges and moths ruled the night when it got dark. Knuckles was swatting them away from his face as best he could. Shadow had a light duffel bag over one shoulder (since it only had one strap) and conveyed a face as cold as a mask.

They both stood close together near the river where they had chosen to meet the evening before. There were plenty of shrubs for cover in case someone might look their way, but no one was about. They could even see Outcast sixty yards away; who was fast asleep, still tied to the pole. The guard on duty was Tails, and he was also asleep a few yards from the weasel. All looked good for a neat departure.

Knuckles set his bag down and looked at the moon. Its round, silvery face sent him shivers of awe. But he was also worried. He had used the moon to monitor time and now it had moved to the east of him.

Sonic was late.

"Come on…" He was running out of patience. The longer they stayed out here, the more chance they had of being discovered. And if Princess Sally found out, she was sure to do anything in her power to stop them from leaving.

"Maybe Sonic isn't coming." Shadow whispered faintly. "After all, he can't go far with those wounds."

"Just wait. He'll be here." I hope.

Knuckles wanted Sonic to come.

For the company.

For the laughs.

For the support.

The echidna intended to look after the hedgehog, as Sonic had done for him numerous times before, but deep down, he felt guilt. Guilt for allowing Sonic to come.

Shadow was right. It seemed foolish to bring an injured hedgehog with them. But how could he turn him down?

A dark figure was approaching them from the west. They were downwind, and they both knew from the smell that it was Sonic. He met up with them behind the tall shrubs with a bag like the other two.

"Sorry I kept you waiting, guys." Sonic told them diligently.

"No problem, slowpoke."

"Hey, that's not funny!"

Shadow pretended to look at a watch that he didn't have. "Come on. In another four hours it will be light. Let's move."

All three shifted into motion. They hurried quickly over to the edge of Knothole where the gargantuan trees of the great forest awaited them.

"As soon as we're out of this forest, we go straight to the amber woods and then to Nutley where we can gather some last supplies." Knuckles was quick to take charge. His dominate nature was already establishing swift leader-ship over the other two. Shadow didn't challenge him. "And since I am the only one that can see in the dark, I'll lead through the forest but we're gonna have to form a chain and hold hands so that we don't get lost."

At this, Shadow pulled a tight grimace, showing a little of his front canines. "You mean I have to touch… you guys?"

Sonic slapped a hand to his mouth to stifle a giggle. It still came out loud.

Knuckles rolled his purple eyes skyward. "You wanna be wondering the great forest for the rest of your days, Shadow?"

"No!"

"Then come on." Knuckles went in, and Sonic was quick to take his large paw.

They were both engulfed in the blackness of the forest.

Shadow sneered, looking left and right. "Fuck." Having no choice, he too stepped in, and was consumed in no time at all.

Not too far away, Outcast had watched them leave, his eyes open to tiny slits so that it looked like he was asleep. A grin formed on his lips and his red eyes twinkled like sapphires.

"So, Sonic, what the hell happened? You okay? Did you tell Sally that you're even leaving?" Knuckles asked.

"Actually, I left a note. I couldn't tell her, she'd only try and keep me here." His side that had been opened by the echidna robot had been thoroughly stitched up, healing yes, but muscles torn up his side from his hip to his arm. He couldn't run for some time, and only limped when he walked. Sally had to do the stitching herself. Sonic was unable to stand doctors and literally panicked and made his wounds worse when one tried to see his injuries. "Can't thank you enough, Shades – for saving me," he added, "apparently I lost to that robot echidna."

"Don't call me that." Shadow replied irksomely. "If you do, I'm calling you cripple. And you're welcome. Anyway, let's go."

Sonic nodded. "I have a debt to settle with Eggman. For everything."

"You sure you'll be able to keep up?" Knuckles asked in concern.

"The day you carry me, Red, is the day I am surely dying!"

The echidna laughed shortly, shaking his heavy head. "Let's hope it never comes to that! Sonic, if we're quick enough, we'll be back in Knothole before the end of the week. And then Sally might just kill you!"


	10. Chapter 10 Gone

**Chapter 10 Gone**

Sally turned over in her sleep and moved her arm out across the sheets expecting to embrace a certain hedgehog. Instead she touched the cold half of her bed. This woke her up, and she groggily blinked a few times in the hazy sunlight of the new day.

"That's odd."

She left her home, wondering where on Mobius he had gone.

She bumped into Tails on her way to the storage hut.

"Why, hello, Tails." She said, "it's a little early for you isn't it?" The grass was still damp and the sun had not yet fully risen to erase the tall shadows that stood across the grassy plains.

"I came out to see Sonic." Tails replied timidly, "I really want to see him, but he's door's locked. He never locks his door. And when I knocked and knocked, he didn't answer!"

Well what do you expect me to do? Sally cried inwardly. Sonic was probably sulking himself. Pride came before a fall. But when she looked into Tails' eyes, she immediately felt sorry for him. He was worried, even scared. Sonic had never ignored Tails before.

"All right." She drawled at last, "I'll help. He's probably tucked up in bed, still dead to the world after leaving my place." They held hands as they took a long walk down the valley of the village, past the power ring pool and a few tree houses before entering Sonic's territory. Now smoke billowed from the chimney at his cottage and the curtains were still drawn. Sally was convinced the hedgehog was still asleep, but who slept through eighty knocks on the door at a time? Sally began to feel worried herself.

She approached the wooden door and rapped her knuckles on it. "Son?" She called loudly, "open this door! You're getting Tails all worried!" She stopped, allowing him time to fall out of bed and fiddle with the locked latch on the other side. She listened, but could hear nothing.

Strange.

She knocked a second time, harder. "Son!" Tails was biting his lip. "Are you deaf? Are you mocking me?"

Why wasn't he responding?

Maybe he had fallen, had an accident and was unconscious?

Worry quickly turned into fear. "Stand back, Tails." The princess warned him, "we're going to let ourselves in."

"Oh!" Tails looked slightly excited, and he went back several feet in anticipation.

Sally took a step back herself, concentrated, gathered her strength and let loose a wild cry as she swung her foot forward in a neat upper kick. The door flew back on its hinges, lock broken in two.

Sally stormed in like it was a covert operation. She checked all the corners of the kitchen for badniks. Quickly assessed the room and the lounge.

Everything looked normal. There was no mess.

Everything was tidy and manicured.

The fireplace had been recently used, due to the warm ash. And there was a rose and note on the table.

Tails rushed in, and headed for the bedroom. "Sonic!" He was hysterically calling.

Sally took in everything. It all appeared normal. Then she walked over to the table, swept the rose aside from the paper and picked the note up. It was written in Sonic's handwriting.

"What the?" She began to read. Slowly at first, than her eyes began to rush through it. "Oh dear gods…" Tears suddenly started to blotch her vision. "No… no!"

_Dear Sal_

_Let me apologize first of all._

_I suppose by now you know that I'm gone. I don't mean to scare you._

_Our tribulations are thickening. I wanted to tell you what I'd do, but between my pride and my promise, the things I wanted to say to you got lost before I could say._

_I'm not asking you to forgive me. Leaving you without a word is cowardly and deceitful. I certainly won't forgive myself for that._

_What I do know, is that I will come back to you, Sal. I swear on my life that I'll come back to you._

_I swear it._

_I'll miss you, Sal._

_S.M_

Sonic paused again as they climbed up a ravine. The ravine was sharp and steep, with pickets of course grass growing out the cracks like weeds. Rocks scattered and fell and folded into dust at the bottom.

Sonic looked out and could just about make out the shape of Nutley. He could see the smoke from the chimneys blackening the sky. And he could see the hundreds of crops tying in with Amber Wood. But from here, he could not see the great forest.

"Come on, Sonic!" Knuckles called from atop the ravine some seventy yards away.

Sonic pulled himself away and continued climbing.

All his insides had turned to ash.

How could he have left like that?

"What will Sal think of me?"

The heartless wind was blowing violently at their backs as if it was pushing them onwards. Onwards to a black future.

Knuckles' voice echoed down the ravine as he said, "this is nuts, don'tcha think? I mean, here we are, because we got a tip off from that weasel. Pretty dumb!"

"But it's the only lead we've got." Shadow said, who was climbing prestigiously behind him. It was obvious that he was not used to climbing. He stumbled a lot, and gained altitude slowly. Whenever he lost his footing, he sent down a small avalanche of rocks in Sonic's direction.

Knuckles pulled out the map from his bag that they had purchased at Nutley, along with more food for the journey. The way was long, but as long as they stayed on route, they'd be fine.

"We'll get there in several days," Knuckles said, half of his sentence snatched by the wind, "we'll be back in no time."

Shadow cursed when he fell. A sharp fragment of rock cut his knee and the wind deafened him. But despite his slowness, they had made good progress.

Since they had started their journey under the cover of darkness, they hadn't stopped. Now it was daylight and they weren't stopping.

The bitter cold wind made Sonic's face and eyes sore. Luckily he had his gloves to protect his hands as he charily navigated his way upward behind Shadow. So far, his side hadn't hurt. It had mostly healed by now, as Sonic found out last night. He had peeled off the bandaging to dourly look upon a long slash mark that would leave a nasty scar. But it was the damaged muscles and nerves that he was worried about the most, and if he overworked his body, a short spasm of pain would grip him, forcing him to stop and rest.

Knuckles had made to the top and stopped to breathe in the sights and smells. "Oh yeah, baby, it's beautiful up here. Hurry it up, you slowpokes!"

"I'm getting there!" Shadow hollered in a mad rage, causing Knuckles to throw his head back and laugh.

Sonic however, couldn't help but look back. Nutley was even smaller now, disappearing behind trees, foliage and hills.

In contrast to the cold ash of his mood, the day was cheery, full of bright, unclouded sun and a warm northward breeze, of deep blue sky and swift hills. And Knuckles was right about the dazzling view. When Sonic had joined him on the top, they looked out at a colorful landscape of fields, mountains and trees. There was no sign of pollution. No sign of human influence. If Robotnik had never existed, all of Mobius might have looked like this. Like a painted landscape of flowery color. Like the sunswept plains of eternal freedom.

"This is our reward for when we get back." Knuckles was saying dreamily. "It's worth any journey."

Shadow quipped sinisterly, "even when you've been shot and you have to crawl whilst dragging your entrails?"

"Always here to ruin a moment, huh Shads?" Sonic smiled.

Knuckles shook his head, unaffected by Shadow's sardonic remark. "Let's get going while the weather's this good. We'll stop and rest when I feel tired!"

The lower winds winded up the ravine, and they scented the sweet smell of lavender and bowered grain from the fields below.

The day that Sonic, Knuckles and Shadow were climbing the ravine, Dulcy, Tails and a selection of guards broke out from the great forest to look for them.

Tails separated and went to Nutley, asking any villager he came across if they had seen a blue hedgehog come past here. All of them shook their heads, apologizing that they had not seen him.

Tails was becoming more and more upset.

It just wasn't like Sonic. He just wouldn't get up and leave without telling anybody, least of all him! It wasn't fair!

Dulcy had no better luck. In fact she flew too far east, missing Sonic and the others entirely. And when it grew dark and she glided over the ravine, this was the time they had regressed into the caves to spend the night.

So, on that first day, Dulcy and company returned to Knothole empty-handed. It was as if Sonic had disappeared.

On the morning of the next day, the sky was clouding over as Knothole came to life.

Bunnie was guarding Outcast who had been moved onto a small wooden stake who was still chained by the wrist. The weasel had been ordered to make a small fire over some logs and stew a pot of vegetables for an hour. The whole time Bunnie regarded him hatefully with her arms crossed.

"You stir that pot good." She was telling him scornfully. "And after that you're chopping some wood and fetching the salt."

Outcast hissed menacingly at her. He had thrown taunts at her before, but insults never fazed Bunnie, so the rebel gave up in the end.

Someone close by dropped their bucket of water and an armful of pears as they were walking to their home. Bunnie muttered an obscenity before coming over to help them.

"Here, I'll help, sugar."

Outcast balefully watched her go. His chance was now.

He grabbed a stump of wood from the fiery furnace of his fire and crept forward as much as his chain would allow. The wood burned his hand and he had to fight to keep from screaming.

He dropped the wood on his intended target.

On the closet thing he could find.

A pile of dry hay beside somebody's cottage.

Outcast smirked, his blood-red eyes flashing insanely. The hay burned like a match. Already an inferno was building up from the piece of wood. Long, tapered embers started to hiss up the wall of the house.

Someone shrieked an alarm. "FIRE!"

Bunnie dropped a pear. "Oh my gosh!"

A badger came running with a pail of water and he threw it at the burning haystack, but the fire was too big now. It grew enormous until the whole bail of hay had been consumed. The wall of the hut was beginning to blacken. More creatures were coming out of their homes to tackle the flames.

Outcast had everyone distracted.

He turned, ran up to the stake and started digging around its base to loosen it from the soil. His time was limited. And if someone noticed him, he was doomed.

For now the fire demanded everybody's attention and no one was watching him.

His claws chiseled at the earth. The pole was coming loose, but it was taking too long. He had to leave now.

Outcast left the soil and pulled hard on his chain. The chain ran taut, and the stake creaked with the strain. Then, almost at once, the stake snapped away from the soil and the weasel was free.

Outcast ran.

He ran as hard as he could, past houses and farmyards.

Past startled villagers.

He headed for the trees. For the cover of the great forest. Then he could vanish and never be captured again.

Outcast leapt into the nearest ring of redwoods, a stake dragging behind him.

Then, he was gone.


	11. Chapter 11 What I've Done

**Chapter 11: What I've Done**

It had all happened too quickly. And she hadn't been prepared.

Oh but how she cursed herself for not being prepared.

The fire spread rapidly. The embers threw its body at more flammable objects. Dry hay, buckets and stores of food. Everything was made out of organic material of some sort, so everything was just as vulnerable.

Dulcy fitted into her fierce role of fearless freedom fighter, and hurried all the families out of their homes. More freedom fighters came carrying buckets of water and threw it over the roaring fire. Animals were running around screaming. Their cries clawed at the air that was filling with deep black smoke.

There was no sign of Lupe and her escorts. And a hole sat in the ground from where a pole once sat. The pole Outcast had been tied to.

The princess stood in dire disbelief. Sonic wasn't here. Where was Knuckles? And Lupe?

She felt useless in the throes of sudden disaster. But it was not the fire that troubled her the most. It was the arbiter.

Outcast had vanished and had most probably escaped while everyone focused on the fire.

That was bad.

Outcast knew the location of Knothole. He knew how to get here! And now the secret would be out!

Knothole was doomed.

Back at crisis point, Bunnie slipped and fell while carrying a bucket of water. The liquid splashed out across the acrid grass, too far from the flames to do any good. She beat at the air with curses.

The air was sick with fear.

"You'all scared I know," Bunnie called out loudly to the crowd, "but me'an Dulcy will find that little devil, and when we do, we'll kill him!"

The crowd weren't appeased. The animals were scared. For some, Knothole had been their only home. Some were born here. Others had known the bad times of Motoprolis and didn't want to see the scenario ever unfolding again.

"We're doomed!" Cried a mouse.

"Where's Sonic?" Shouted another.

"Sonic should be dealing with this!"

"Get Sonic the hedgehog!"

The noise was appalling. It escalated, higher and higher with the fear and confusion.

It was then that Sally got a grip on herself and her steel façade took over her numb features. Sonic would act. He wouldn't stand there, mouth gaping.

She had a job to do. She was princess, leader of Knothole!

"Okay everyone!" She walked through the crowd, gesturing with her arms as she spoke. All eyes were on her. "We're all scared, but being scared isn't going to pack our bags for us or solve any problems. Sonic is not here."

It was as she dreaded. More voices. More arguments.

"Not here?"

"Where is he then?"

Fear and inundation quickly changed tides and became shock. Even hate.

"I don't know where he is," Sally exclaimed truthfully, "but I'm sure he'll return. But right now we need to focus. We need to help ourselves, and so will Tails and my other loyal freedom fighters. In the meantime, I suggest we start packing. We may not need to leave, but what use is there in fighting? I will not risk lives."

"What about our defenses that we worked so hard on?" Amy Rose said as she barged her way through the throng of villagers, "don't they work?"

Sally nodded. "They work, and they'll hold any intruder off but not forever. We can slip away while they're distracted by our gunfire."

"And where shall we go then, huh?" Amy persisted. She seemed to be speaking for the crowd. Behind her, scores of animals nodded their heads in agreement to her words.

That, Sally did not know. Oh how she wanted, needed her mate. She knew deep inside that she relied too much on him. Now was her chance to stand up on her own two feet, but all the attention made her nervous and dizzy.

"Well go south. It'll take us past the Badlands and away from Nutley. There are mountains there and a safe place called Faux forest."

Still, many were not happy. Sally looked at the crowd with searching eyes. An otter holding two crying kittens. An old fox with a leg missing. A hefty bear with a steel claw, a survivor from bad times.

What else was she supposed to do? Tell them to stay? To hope for the best?

Bunnie took her hand and led her away from the heat of the attention. Dulcy now had to deal with the Knothole inhabitants.

"Princess Sally," Bunnie said when they were out of ear shot and standing behind a smoking pile of rubble that was once a trades wagon, "you probably know all this, darlin', but this is bad. This is very bad."

"I know." She brushed some red hair out of the way and tried to put on a brave face.

Sally knew that somehow, she had to reach Sonic. She had to tell him of their current tragedy. He had to know.

_I need you Sonic._

She read over his letter for the fortieth time. She rested her chin on her knuckles and said quietly to herself, "you had better, Son. Or I swear I'll kill you."

The lantern on her table in the sitting room was burning low. It gave off dark shadows on the walls, frightening her a little. Outside it was dark and cold.

She put ink to paper and began to write. She was writing a letter of her own. She hoped with all her heart that Sonic would read this.

* * *

><p>The night was deep and impenetrable. It made Knuckles think of his home. The home he had left behind. But all of them had made the same sacrifices. They were in alien land, journeying to the pits of pollution.<p>

Shadow sat huddled over their small fire. The slender twigs were all they managed to acquire. Sonic lay asleep, using Knux's bag as a pillow. Shadow nodded over to him. "Will he be all right?"

"A good night's sleep can do a whole lot of good." Knuckles answered straight away. "But tell me, why are you coming with us anyway? What do you want?"

"Revenge." Shadow spat into the hungry flames of the fire.

Knuckles went quiet as he listened to the spit and cackle of the flames gnawing on the wood.

Shadow suddenly wanted to keep a conversation going. "Say something."

Knuckles looked up, astonished at the dark hedgehog's act for comfort. "I don't feel like taking. Aren't you tired?"

Silence descended. Shadow peered back at the flames. Then he said, "tell me about the Doctor. Why does he want to destroy Mobius so much and those living in it?"

"Nobody really knows." Knux said at length, mentally deciding whether to bother lapsing into gossip with him, "some say it's simply because he's a human. Human nature they call it. Can you imagine a world full of man? And not animals?"

Shadow shook his head.

"Anyway," the echidna stretched and leant closer to the warmth of the crackling fire himself, "they say it was hate that started it. Robotnik could never love. Maybe it was because there wasn't anymore of his own kind. Maybe it was because he was born evil. However some say that hate doesn't appear overnight. It seeds itself. It sprouts and climbs from within the dark, damp subtleties of cowardice and anger."

"So… you think the Doctor became bad over time?"

Knuckles shook his head. "No. I think he's just evil. All of mankind is. And they spread it. Spread it like a disease you can never purge." He sat back, then added, "Sonic's carrying the blue chaos emerald in his bag and a power ring. He is nuts bringing those with him. I don't like what he might have in mind."

* * *

><p>The next day, it drizzled slightly with rain, then it edged off. But they did not want to stay any longer than they had to.<p>

"Sonic, how you holding up?" Knuckles asked thoughtfully.

"Great." Sonic breathed in the fresh smells of the forest, "Knux, you ever thought about becoming a doctor?"

Knuckles took the sudden remark as a compliment. "No, but thanks anyway Sonic."

The ground started to rise up when they left the woodland and started to cross open grassy plains. But these plains were dotted with broken hills that looked they had been in a battle and the valley itself was wrought with scars. Knuckles noticed this to, but kept to himself about it.

Then, as if someone had pulled a trigger inside Sonic's head, he fell down, causing Shadow to almost crash into him.

Air as thick as smoke blew through him, chilling his bones. The throat of his soul contracted in silent pain.

"What the hell is wrong with you now?" Shadow asked without anger.

Knuckles trotted back up to them, his eyes glistening in confusion.

Sonic gulped and sat up. "I feel… I feel something…"

"What?"

"I… I don't know… it was like a dream… I feel danger… fire… I saw the destruction of Knothole…"

"What?" Knuckles repeated loudly. "What do you mean you saw it?"

With an effort, Sonic forced himself to say, "no, sorry, I haven't seen it, but I feel it in my heart."

"Well that makes no sense."

Sonic stood back up and looked at his comrades as if to reassure himself of their presence. "It's just this feeling… I've had bad dreams before…"

"Must be this trip." Knuckles said. "It's been hard on all of us but we've past the half-way point. We're going to be entering the Badlands soon. Then the Wayland."

Sonic didn't affirm his explanation with a smile. He looked behind him, as if seeking to see Knothole far, far in the distance.

"Sonic." The echidna said lightly, "Knothole is fine. Don't worry. The sooner we deal with this place at Wayland the better, and then we can all go home."

"Yeah, you're right." Sonic rose a hand to rub his forehead and walked on.

All three smoothed out into motion. Shadow whispered behind Sonic, "it's strange. We haven't encountered any badnik patrols yet."

"Oh, I'm sure you will." Knuckles responded brightly, "so let's keep our vigilance, shall we?"

If Sonic had turned round and looked to the west at that moment, he would have seen the beginnings of the smoke rising, far, far away in the boundaries of the Great Forest.

* * *

><p>Dulcy discerned the mountaintops, hillsides and forests with eagle eyes. Deep in her heart she knew where Sonic had gone. She remembered what Outcast had said that day while tied to a post.<p>

The weasel who had started it all.

"Our great Messiah holds his home and fort to the Wayland."

"The Wayland is massive. Tell us where in the Wayland."

"North. North of the Wayland past the rocky fissures. In the mountains!"

They must have gone there.

So that was where Dulcy headed.

Her wings barely flapped in the high altitude just below the clouds. The warm air currents kept her afloat without too much effort on her part.

The precious message handed to her via Bunnie, written by Sally, was tied and secured in a pouch around her neck. She had to find Sonic.

He had to know.

For there was little he could do now, for Knothole, sadly. Even now as she flew, Dulcy knew more animals were dying. She wished she had stayed to help. But at least Sonic would be aware of the tragedy and perhaps head back.

That was if he was even still alive.

Out here in the open wastes badnik patrols were constant. The Badlands were crawling with arbiters. And with that wound of his, Sonic couldn't go far.

But didn't he have Shadow and Knuckles with him? For they too disappeared and no trace of them was found. Even Lupe and her kind had gone, not even leaving pawprints to follow.

Dulcy had flown right over the rocky ravines, past the entrance to the City of Dwelter and on towards the Badlands.

And it was because Sonic and his comrades were in the open plains that she saw them starkly against the green of the land.

By now, Dulcy's heart was so heavy, she did not rejoice.

She lowered herself towards them, dropping her wings back and uncurling her hind legs and forefeet.

She saw Knuckles lift his head up and bark a warning to the others when he saw her coming towards them.

All eyes were on her.

Dulcy landed a good dozen yards away from them, so that they weren't caught in the turbulence of her landing, or in case she fell too quickly.

She straightened herself out, folded her wings tightly against her spine and sat up on her thick haunches.

Knuckles and Shadow came trotting up to her.

"Dulcy, is that really you?" The echidna asked huskily, "why the heck have you come here? Do you know how dangerous that was?"

"Badniks miles away could have spotted you." Shadow continued.

Dulcy grunted at them, unaffected by their appalling welcome. "I'm here to see Sonic the hedgehog." Her tough flanks rumbled and Shadow, a little unsettled, stepped away.

"You're a reptile!" The dark hedgehog gasped.

"Yea', so?" The dragon asked austerely.

"Shadow," Knuckles said, "she's Dulcy the dragon. She's a freedom fighter. We can trust her."

Sonic joined them, and he smiled up at Dulcy. "Hey! Long time no see! How's Sal?"

The dragon looked down at him, conscious of the other two standing and waiting to know why she had come.

"Sonic, I bring bad news."

The hedgehog's compelling smile vanished from his pale features. "Excuse me?"

"Come. Let us talk alone." The dragon nudged him back where he came with her snout while Knuckles and Shadow remained where they were.

Knuckles crossed his arms across his chest and mumbled to his sullen companion, "I don't like this."

The huge dragon walked away with Sonic until they were out of earshot. Then they could see Dulcy handing Sonic a scroll.

Knuckles tensed, desperate to know what was happening.

"Why did Sonic come with us?" Shadow's voice was deep and dark, "That wound of his prevents him from tapping into his true abilities. So why is he coming with us when he can do little to help?"

Knuckles moved his shoulders up and down in a shrug. "You observe quite a lot don't you? Well, I can see why he'd want to come along. I think that day in Knothole, something made him believe that weasel. He knew something about Wayland. Maybe he wants to settle an old score with Robotnik, now that he actually has a chance to see him, if this fort in Wayland is real."

"Yes," Shadow persisted seditiously, "but have you ever thought that he opted for a one way ticket?"

Knuckles stared at him as if a mushroom had suddenly sprouted on top of Shadow's head, "what are you insinuating?"

Shadow shrugged. "Just a thought."

"Sonic would never do that!" Knuckles confirmed passionately, eyes wide at the mere assumption Shadow had produced, "how selfish are you? Just because he's the hero and you're what… the sulky dark snake that reminds us of our fates? He's not like that! He has a home to go to! A partner! Don't you ever mention this again!"

"But he's permanently crip…"

They were interrupted by an angry cry. A cry that sent the chills down Knux's spine and made his fur bristle outward. He hadn't heard such a prostrated noise in a long time. It was the sort of sound a parent made when they found their kitten dead, or the sound an animal made when death was but round the corner.

Sonic was on the floor; fists curled up tight, eyes pinched shut. "No… no… it can't be…"

"There was no warning…" Dulcy wept, curving her long neck down so that she could nuzzle her nose against him, "Knothole is lost."

"Why? How!" Sonic picked up the letter and forced himself to read it over again in his head. Sally had also sent him a peony with the note. A peony was symbolic to the animals of Knothole, and when a peony was distributed between mates, (a female giving it to the male), it meant that the female was pregnant. It was her way of saying, 'I hold the secrets of the womb. We have made life.'

"I'm sure a lot of them escaped," Dulcy went on to explain, "but the metal creations of Eggman was too soon. They knew exactly where we were."

"I'll kill Robotnik!" Sonic crushed the note into the palm of his hand, tears stinging his eyes. He wished to could run. He wished he could rocket faster than the speed of sound and return to Knothole.

"They counted on me…" He drew in a deep breath, "and I wasn't… there…"

"No one blames you, Sonic." Dulcy said gently. "It was Outcast. He escaped… and…"

"And Sal?"

Dulcy shook her head. "I don't know where she is. Last time I saw her, she was going to escape with the others. That's all I know. Sonic… it was a massacre."

Sonic rose to his feet and screamed.

Not too far off, Knuckles and Shadow flinched at the noise.

"Well get back there then!" Sonic snapped at Dulcy, tearing the letter up in his hands and leaving the bright pink peony on the floor at his feet. "Save her! BECAUSE I CAN'T!"

Dulcy looked at him, eyes coated in bewilderment and sorrow.

"I can't! I can't run! I can't do anything!" The cerulean hedgehog looked to the west.

And he saw the smoke. Thick and black. It looked like a long ebony snake was reaching up to kiss the heavens.

"What… what have I done?" Sonic's heart broke into a thousand shattered pieces. Pieces he would never be able to pick up again. "What have I done?"

Dulcy looked away, the tears rolling down in rivulets. "I must return to that place, Sonic. I shall find Princess Sally. And you? What shall you do?"

Sonic could not meet her eyes. At his feet lay the peony, crushed and broken.

"Sonic?"

The hedgehog started back towards his friends. He tried to hold his limp up, tried to mask it, but he could not.

"The Wayland." He growled at Knuckles and Shadow. "We going to the Wayland and we're not going to stop until we get there!"

"That's insane." Knuckles said, noting at once the change in Sonic's appearance and expression, "it's still two days away."

"You don't understand. Knothole…" He couldn't get the words out. He thrashed forward, pushing Knuckles out of the way. "Let's go! I'll leave you all behind if I have to!"

Shadow looked from Knuckles to Dulcy.

The dragon sorrowfully turned away and flew back in the direction where inky black smoke was towering before the heavens.


	12. Chapter 12 Pretence

**Chapter 12: Pretence**

Faux forest. A small dozy woodland with no protection from the rain.

And no comfort from the torment they had to flee from. Flee from with their lives.

It was like having a nightmare.

Tails was still clinging to her like a newborn. He looked so pitiful, his fur caked in ash, coughing occasionally from the smoke that had got into his lungs. He hadn't stopped sobbing since it had all begun. Since the nightmare had descended over them like a black cloud of smoke.

Animals were screaming out orders. Others had collapsed, wailing hysterically. They had only just made it to Faux forest, with more causalities on the way. The chance of pursuit was likely.

"It's okay, Tails." She whispered, coddling him because she didn't know what else to do but hold him and tell him lies. "It's going to be okay. We're safe now. Safe…"

The calamity around them proved otherwise. Nothing had survived that attack. No food. No water. And the families… most dead or separated.

Sally looked upwards, and though the rain blurred her vision, she wanted to see the dragon. She wanted to see Dulcy. Had the freedom fighter seen Sonic? Had she delivered her message?

Waiting had become a little too painful.

Sally didn't think she could exist without Sonic. That seemed ridiculous, really and she would have chuckled, but the pain wouldn't allow it. Sally, princess of a destroyed Knothole, was dependent on a hedgehog.

She had never known before how much of her existence lay with Sonic. He was her friend, her love. He was the other half of her, completing her.

* * *

><p>Without any food or water to sustain them, Sonic knew they wouldn't be able to go very far soon. Wayland had to hold Robotnik somewhere. It was their only hope.<p>

The way forward dipped into a ledge and Sonic sat down on it to get his breath back. He could also see how far they had ascended.

Sonic could see the whole world.

While the wind attacked his fur and made his eyes water, he looked out at the overwhelming sky and the ground below. To the far west where they had journeyed from, he could make out a tiny woodland where the river began and lining the north was a whole forest of mountains looking cold and bleak against the solemnity of the sun's rays. The whole view made his aching heart lift. But still, he thought of Sally. He missed his homeland, one that he may never be able to go back to, and he missed the freedom fighters, the clumsy mini adventures they had, and the picnics he had with Tails near Nutley.

Shadow struggled up the edge of the ledge and climbed over, limbs shaking horribly. His fur was coated in thick, smelly sweat.

"Hey, Shads." Sonic moved over, allowing some space for him to rest. The ledge was small, and could only accommodate the two of them.

Knuckles was next, but didn't choose to knuckle it down and catch a breath like the hedgehogs. "Come on, guys." He said softly, but it was still an order, not a request. "We have to keep moving."

Sonic started climbing again, but almost fell when a rock crumbled, causing a heavy stone to fall onto Shadow's head.

The dark hedgehog growled wretchedly. Sonic mildly smiled before trying again.

Behind them, further down, came the distinct smell of oil. It was opulent and powerful, and Knuckles at once grunted and tried to see past all the rocks cropping his vision.

Sonic slipped on a foothold and almost crashed into Shadow. His side was killing him. He didn't know how much further he could climb.

"Guys…" Knuckles' voice drifted up to the two hedgehogs in a sullen echo. "I think we need to climb faster."

"Any reason?" Shadow asked, swallowing hard. His eyes were weeping from the dust and cold wind.

Knuckles kept his eyes pinned downward; both his claws nailed to the side of the steep slope they were currently climbing. He tested the air, and smelt that rich, ugly scent of oil again. "Move."

Sonic heard the tension in the echidna's voice. It spelt doom. "Knux!" He cried out, "we can't go any faster! Please!"

"Are you fucking deaf?" Knuckles shouted back, his throat howling with anger, "move!"

Sonic turned, faced his latest adversary, the slope, and began.

Knuckles hastily drew up right behind Shadow, chanting only the words; "Move, move, move!"

What had got Knuckles so worried?

Sonic rarely panicked. He was always level-headed, kept his cool and remained sometimes impassive to huge calamities. It was also the first thing you were taught as a freedom fighter. To keep calm in the face of danger.

But pure fear was sometimes harder to control than what one could prepare for. And despite trying his best to contain all manner of confusion and stress, Sonic slipped again and again. Little rocks and sometimes stones as large as a fist propelled themselves down at Shadow. The ultimate life form got bombarded by debris, making his fur turn dull with sand.

"Sonic!" He choked, "what are you doing?"

Sonic didn't bother replying. Step after step he rose up, but still Knuckles was ordering them from behind to fucking hurry.

"Knux…" Sonic heaved himself up, felt more rocks come loose under his sneakers, "what's the problem?"

The echidna faintly called up, "badniks. Two of em' right on our tail!"

Sonic's eyes widened. Badniks? On pursuit?

"What a bad day." Shadow joked darkly, his lungs wheezing again like yesterday.

The blue hero temporarily stopped, and allowed Shadow to overtake him. He judged the risks about tackling robots on a mountain cliff. It all depended on what type of robot they were. If they were designed to scale mountains, Sonic would have the disadvantage. However…

Knuckles crawled upward smoothly, like he was some kind of mountain lion and this was all in a day's work. "Sonic, why have you stopped? Keep going or I'll bite your fucking tail!"

Sonic shook his head and a slither of dizzy vertigo struck him. "If you're sure we're being pursued, we've got to stop the badniks."

"If they get close to us, I'll do the honors." The echidna spat. "You'll only fall if you attack one of those things."

"Have you seen them?"

"No." Knuckles shoved Sonic on with his paw. "Come on! The top can't be much further."

Sonic looked up and saw Shadow already a tree's distance from them. He was doing rather well.

Side by side, Sonic and Knuckles went up. A few rocks tumbled and fell down, alerting their presence to anything behind them.

Some sharp ledges stuck out from the side, too small to be of any use to them and they often had to change their course to go around them.

Shadow lent down some hope. He stopped way ahead of them, and Knuckles thought that the climb had been too much for the ailing hedgehog. But Shadow looked down and called in the wind.

"There's something here. I think it's a door."

"What the hell is he going on about?" Sonic mumbled, while kicking his feet into the earth to get some grip.

"I think he's found something." Knuckles helped him climb up to Shadow, who was shakily pointing to his right. The wind lapped at his spines, causing them to sway backwards and forwards.

"There." Shadow said, "can't you see it?"

Knuckles climbed up a little further, breath low and shallow. Just as Shadow had said, a metal thick door resided deep in a cavern dug into the cliff face. The narrow corridor of rock was dark with shadow, almost making it invisible from detection.

Knuckles clawed onto the edge of a ledge and crawled into the tight space that led to the door. Jagged stone cut into his fur and lack of light made his eyes radically adjust to the darkness.

He reached the door and tapped it with a knuckle. Solid metal. And ancient old dust clung to the surface like powder.

He could hear Sonic breathing noisily behind him. "Well? Is it any good?"

The echidna pushed his question aside and smeared the dust away with his gloved paw.

As the dust fell away, it revealed a sign on the top of the door. It was in numbers.

'DX009.'

Sonic scrambled in the tight space and pressed himself behind Knuckles as he looked over his shoulder. "DX009?" He said, mystified, "isn't that a human way of expressing words?"

"It must be."

"Do you think there's a way in?"

Knuckles pressed a paw on the door's large ugly cobalt surface and pushed. Nothing. "It must be locked." Yet there was no keyhole.

Sonic couldn't help but sound puzzled and excited at the same time. "Is it old?"

"Decades old at least." Knuckles pounded a fist against it, well aware that they were running out of time. The smell of oil was becoming more pungent and disgusting.

The metal frame reverberated, signaling that the door contained a hollow room from within.

"Can you break it open?" Sonic asked.

"I can see them, hurry." Shadow snapped from somewhere outside.

Knuckles became swooned in desperation and terror. In here, if the badniks came suddenly, they were trapped like moles stuck in a hole.

"Sonic, get clear."

Knuckles rose a fist, swallowed and thrust his weight against the door.

Shadow was watching the badniks called 'the hunters.' They shifted and moved unnaturally in sudden motion like something supernatural. The frame of the robots was long and stalwart, that stood on two legs for speed. But, at the present time, the robots were down on all fours, scaling the hefty slope like beetles. Their faces were masked with human features, complete with eyes, mouth and nose. The rest was metal, twisted and grotesquely designed only to kill and destroy. When standing erect, they could reach eight feet, which towered over any animal.

Shadow started climbing again, facing the cruel, white sky with a flat floor of rock at his fingers.

He reached the narrow cleft of rock that Sonic and Knuckles had squeezed into, where there was barely room to turn and go back.

Ahead, Knuckles was banging at the door with his fists. The center began to cave in. A tender crack, like an open sore, began to form down the middle. Bits of metal flew out whenever Knuckles hammered it with his paws.

"Faster!" Sonic breathed down his back.

The middle bent inwards. Knuckles gave an extra burst of exhilarated strength and the door collapsed in on itself. Heavy dust and splutters of metal blew at them like an exhale from a robot's breath.

They were through.

Knuckles, knowing that he did not have time to check the place out for danger, went straight through without any sign of hesitation. Sonic was right behind, with Shadow taking up the rear.

What they found inside was both awe aspiring and downright abhorrent.

It was like they had walked straight into the intestines of Robotnik's lair.

Metal corridors. Dark dungeon-like ceilings with high inexorable walls and gratings for floors.

"So… so unnatural…" Knuckles said frostily, sweeping his head back and fro, absorbing the place with his eyes, ears and nose. The stench of oil here reeked thick and strong. So much so, Sonic could almost feel it being absorbed into his fur, making him feel dirty and disgusting.

It was a wonder how such a small, carefully concealed door had been hiding a bloody palace of evil! At least that was what Knuckles thought.

"We have to go in. However far it goes." Sonic took the lead again naturally, preparing to meet any objections. For he wouldn't be tolerant of time-wasters. "The badniks are still moving towards us."

They moved along as quickly as Sonic could manage. All that rock climbing had put a cramp in his maimed rib and thigh muscles. He just wanted to get as far away from the hunters as he could.

However, he paused when he faced a swirl of corridors, all jetting out into unknown places. Perhaps more rooms? Or to the very human himself?

"Sonic?"

"Hang on a mondo sec. Which path do we take?"

Shadow looked up, eyes shimmering with pained tears. "That way." He pointed to the middle corridor.

"Why that one?" Knuckles growled. From his view, the dark necklace of corridors looked confusing and frightening. And they all looked the same.

"I know. I can feel it."

Knuckles wasn't willing to put his life in the hands of Shadow. "That's not good enough. Why not that one? Or that one?"

Their pause in their escape, and the confidence they had once assumed now falling away like autumn leaves before them, enabled the pursuit to close in. The hunters, like preying owls at night, were silent. Only their bright red eyes pierced the dim light of the gnarled metal chamber.

"Shoot!" Sonic flung himself down the center corridor.

The hunters came round the corner they had passed a few moments earlier.

A gun opened on its sleek metal shoulder, sending out lazer spray.

It missed Shadow by two feet over his head, and the beam struck the side wall, sending it at once into pink, angry flame.

The three animals were bathed in crimson light as they ran madly down the long corridor with nothing but fear to guide them.

"We're bound to come across a dead end sometime." Sonic said as Knuckles strode easily beside him.

"I'll deal with those badniks." The echidna confirmed confidently, "we just need a plan."

"I'm all ears."

They came across a bend that was straight and perfectly shaped as everything else in the complex, so they continued down, hoping for an exit.

There were metallic black stenciled words on yellow displays on the walls, all in human speech.

Everywhere smelt strange and alien. The complex shone in belligerent prudence. The shadows whispered danger and turmoil. The gratings and ceiling seemed to close in around them, flaring up more panic and fear.

There were no colors here. Only greys, blacks and frost whites.

The human seemed to have expanded his evil, and turned the once, natural mountainous walls into hard, cold steel and turned the lifeblood of the environment into oil. Oil was Robotnik's lifeblood. It gave birth to these machines… enabled him to design more… and build a fucking hidden location in the mountains of Wayland.

Shadow faced the badniks as if they were nothing more than rats. No fear bubbled deep below. No fear or confusion thwarted his senses. Only wild instinct took over, angry and without limit.

His fur glowed a hot red. Crimson waves rolled up and down his body like he was being enveloped by the setting sun.

As if trapped in a smooth somnolence, broken only by the lapping of red waves and rising power, Shadow raised his own fist, opened it and a scarlet flash of irresolute blood red bathed the corridor. Knuckles and Sonic cringed as far as they could into the floor, hands up over their heads. All they could see was red against their eyelids.

But nothing happened to them.

No pain.

Only the feeling of immense pressure rolling over them like a thundercloud baying or a waterfall just about to cascade over them.

It was Knuckles who opened his eyes first, always one to take the initiative.

The corridor was dimming back to its drab greys. The red receded like a sickness wilting away after a bad episode.

Shadow stood in the center, sweaty and shivering. The hunters lay decimated on the floor from where they had been standing moments before as if some great force had simply pushed them all over.

"Shadow, what did you do?"

Sonic nervously opened one eye, checked that it was safe, then opened the other.

"I… I've used the last of my power…" Shadow said blithely between spits of foam dripping at his mouth, "there may be more coming."

"Last of your power?" Knuckles asked curiously. "What do you mean?"

Shadow looked at them, and Sonic saw wild fever in his eyes. "I… I have to tell you something… but it won't be long before they…"

"Yes, yes, I know." Knuckles stepped closer, sweat starting to bead under his own fur. "I wasn't exactly expecting cups of tea when I came in here. What do you want us to know?"

Shadow walked over to the wall and leaned against it, chest swelling as he tried to gain some breath back. "I'm sick."

"No shit." Knuckles looked him over as if he were evaluating some common insect that had crawled out from the ground.

"The Doctor… did something to me…"

Sonic cursed under his breath. "And you're telling us now?"

"All right…. All right…" Knuckles acted a little too calmly for Sonic's liking. "Let's get to the bottom of this, but we'd better be quick. Shadow; tell us everything, all right. No secrets from here on."

"I was taken from the Ark. Taken!" He coughed in lament. "It was probably two full moons ago. I didn't want to believe it at first. I hoped it had all been another one of my nightmares. But what I did know deep down, was that the Doctor took me from my home, put me in a lab and injected me with some shit or other. I woke up back in the Ark." Shadow shuddered to continue, sweat and phlegm dripping from his chin. "That almost convinced me it had been a dream… until I started getting ill. I don't get ill." As if to literally show them the proof of it all, and his explanation wasn't enough, Shadow carpeted the floor at his feet with hot, steamy vomit.

Sonic covered his mouth and took a few steps back. The stench made him feel like vomiting too.

"Doctor… no… Prof… Professor Gerald made me immortal and immune to illness. But the evil Doctor somehow bypassed that with what had to be Sargus." His voice was shading into a sepulchral echo. "That was how I knew. So I had to find him. I had to come here. It… it would have made no difference to you if I told you ten days ago or when we're in the Doctor's presence. We're all here for some reason, aren't we?" He glanced up at them. He was almost down to his knees.

Knuckles was slowly shaking his head, making his long, magnificent dreadlocks swish together like vines in a jungle. "You stupid hedgehog." He said at last.

"Why did Robotnik poison you then?" Sonic inquired, hand still held up over his mouth and doing all his best to keep from looking down at the vomit, "it must have taken some nerve and a lot of planning to capture you up in that Ark."

"He did it because he hates us. All of us. I betrayed him, didn't I? I made a mockery of his plans when I decided to help you before that great fucking battle that cost me a kidney. But he also did it for another reason. He wanted me to kill you. Kill you and take the emerald and give it to him."

Sonic lapsed into a still, rigid state, eyes wide and glazed.

Shadow impelled himself to continue. He still kept his frenzied gaze at the floor vilified with spit and sick. "I didn't. I didn't do as he asked, even when he promised me the cure for my sickness if I did. I had lots of chances to do as he wished, Sonic. My best chance was when that robot was finished with you at the temple on Angle Island. I could have killed you then and there and made it look like the robot won anyway and I was the hero who brought the body back to Knothole for everyone to pay their respects."

"Why didn't you?" Knuckles asked, sounding a lot more savage and cross.

Now Shadow set his mad red eyes on them. "I'm not like that anymore. I fight for Mobius. I fight because Maria would have wanted it. And I owed Sonic. He saved me from death that day on the battlefield and I shan't forget that."

"So you'd rather throw your own life away? Just like that?"

Shadow nodded. "I would never take someone's life away. Not when they have a life to lead. A family to protect. If I took Sonic away from his partner, what would I have become? I'd only be repeating what had happened to Maria on that fateful day several years ago. So I saved you, Sonic. And for that I owe you no more favors."

"Suits me." Sonic replied stonily.

"So that's why you came." Knuckles said, eyes glittering menacingly. "You came to destroy Sargus, if it's even here. Am I right?"

Shadow nodded again.

Sonic seemed least effected by Shadow's short speech. "We need to get on. More badniks with come and I don't want to be around when they do. Let's go."

"Where? Further on?" Knuckles shook his head angrily. "We need to find the Master Emerald. I can only sense it if I'm close enough to it."

Sonic said the unpredictable. "Then we're splitting up."

"What?" Shadow choked from his corner of the floor.

"Sonic! What are you thinking in that big head of yours?" Knuckles pointed a paw at him; "we need to stick together if we're going to stand any chance of surviving this hellish maze. If it wasn't for Shadow those hunters could have hurt or even killed us. Splitting up? I'd rather face Robotnik right now, and damn the consequences!"

Sonic fixed Knuckles a cold, emerald stare. "Does it look like I'm negotiating?" The echidna backed down slightly. "I'm just after Robotnik. You are after the Master Emerald and Shadow is out for Sargus. We each have our own paths."

"You're insane. We've got to stay close or…"

Sonic pushed Knuckles back on his shoulders with his hands. "I'm going on alone! Knothole is in tatters! A village is just a village, right? Full of memories, wooden partitions and an old well, and it's the animals that lived in that village, Knux! Animals with their own families, their own lives to lead! Adventures to be had! But that's all ruined now, thanks to me! I have a dept to pay!"

"It wasn't your fault… You weren't to know…"

The blue hedgehog was already gone. Using speed Knuckles didn't know he could manage with that damaged side, had left them in the corridor, rather alone in a forsaken place.


	13. Chapter 13 Where the Monster Grows

**Chapter 13: Where the monster grows**

The vent door lay crushed and bent in half. Knuckles shoved Shadow down into the vent shaft like it was a rabbit hole. The only rabbit hole they could safely hide in.

Shadow felt his way down the shaft while Knuckles reversed into it, keeping his eyes locked on the corridor for as long as he could before regressing into the hole.

Just at that moment, as silent as a cat, two hunters trooped past. Their humanoid feet plodded along the gratings with alien grace, making not a sound.

They're like dark angels. Knuckles thought prudently.

Knuckles watched their feet (the only part of them he could see from the vent) move off down the corridor and out of sight. It was never good to continue moving until long after they had left. Robotnik had cunningly installed a motion sweeper on the hunters' spines to detect movement from behind after they had searched an area in front. It was deceptive and caught many animals this way, thinking that it was safe, only to move and find themselves cornered by a pair of red haunting eyes.

"Let's see where this vent leads." Shadow whispered faintly, "but I'm afraid I won't be able to help you anymore. I won't be able to go on much further."

"That's because you used up all the last energy you had against those androids."

"I had to. You and Sonic just stood there like a pair of kippers."

"Whatever." Knuckles chose not to go by way of the vent. He had no idea where it could lead to and small metal tunnels went against his instincts.

Keeping Shadow behind him, they waited long until the robots had gone before collectively deciding to move out.

Shadow was slow and hesitant, keeping to the walls for support. The corridor however, remained the same until they came to another passageway that led three ways. Knuckles chose the one on his right after trying to sense the Master Emerald.

The stench of man and robot was everywhere. And as they went deeper, it felt like they were winding further and further down into the underworld.

From above, fixed onto the ceiling like a spider was a spy robot. It had a tiny, complex metal body with a huge visor that protected an optical eye beneath. It had small sticky webbed pads to use on ceilings and even rocky ledges that could keep a firm purchase on any kind of surface.

It watched them now, sending anything it saw back to headquarters. And as Knuckles and Shadow moved down cautiously, it followed them up the passageway, keeping its large black eyes on them consistently.

Their location no longer hidden, scores of robots were sent out from their posts to apprehend and kill the intruders.

Knuckles heard them first. Both he and the hedgehog were skirting along quietly as if they were still undetected. But the echidna heard the familiar sound that every animal dreaded. The sound of metal shunting forwards. The noise of metallic feet clapping against the floor. The sound of motors running, of blips and unnatural clicks.

"They're here…" Shadow pulled back, face returning into a snarl. Knuckles wanted to protect him, but he didn't know how.

Oil. That was all he could smell. That and the sweat rolling down his temples.

"Fuck." The hedgehog spluttered. "We're finished. And we'd only just fucking got here."

"We're not done yet."

"Yes we are. Who knows? Maybe Sonic's met the same fate?"

Hunters. The vultures of death. Weak looking things, but lethal and quick. Their metal legs, resembling that of a chicken, strutted towards them, five strong.

Two more came up behind them, shouldering out weapons with long barrels and dark holes.

"When I say," whispered Knuckles, "you duck and run."

"Run where?"

The hunters began to swarm around them. The one in front with a black skull and mangy red eyes, pointed first, and a hot spew of molten lazer poured out.

The hot line of green fire struck out, and would have hit Knuckles square in the chest if he had not ducked and rolled at the very last moment.

Shadow too and ducked, folded his arms over his head and ran blindly to the left. The distraction allowed them a few moments to spare as the targets the robots had carefully picked out moved apart.

Knuckles charged into the closet one, aware that he was in range of blank-fire. With one fist he knocked the andriod's head clear from its shoulders, showing a thick forest of wiring at the top of the neck before it arched to meet the skull. Black oil spurted from the wound and electricity crackled callously.

Knuckles jumped clear, but still the headless android moved with the others, unhindered by decapitation. The head however, rolled away on the floor, forgotten.

Shadow was thrown in the air when a perfect strike launched him from the ground. The android had aimed at his legs, something they had been trained to do. An animal couldn't run when its legs had been terminated.

Luckily for Shadow, he had been running fast enough not to be hit directly, but the blast had been close, and not only scorched his fur and skin across his knees but had also set one of his shoes on fire.

He hit the ground ungracefully, and went head over heels so that he was unable to tell where the ceiling and walls began or ended.

As the robots closed in maliciously like menacing raptors, Knuckles kicked one in the spine. The lazer fire from the six robots behind him loaded the air with lazer bullets that streamed out like little green seeds.

The echidna dodged left, and saw one of Robotnik's own androids take the hit. It burst and sweltered with flame instantly.

The moment the fire started, the corridor swam with red flashing lights. A human voice, namely Robotnik's, began sending out orders across the complex. The voice sounded recorded.

Not understanding the human tongue, Knuckles did not understand the words that were being spoken.

Shadow was kicking at his shoe with the other to try and put out the small flame. Knuckles came over and ripped both shoes off.

The androids behind them, failing to heed the words being broadcasted, came at the animals again.

They were lavished in lazer fire.

Knuckles grabbed Shadow's hand and dragged him forwards, away from the threat.

Behind the androids, their fallen comrade fell into a weird, alien convulsion that looked more like a dance that belonged to the damned. Then it crumpled into pure flame, its skin molting off like reptile skin, showing plastic mould and skeletal metal beneath.

"This way!" Knuckles panted. Shadow could barely keep up. His knees were blistering.

A beam of lazer struck past Knuckles' face, scaring the wits out of him. Then he felt the pain. The lazer had nicely sliced through one of his fleshy dreads.

He screamed. The noise chanted down the metal madworld of Robotnik's base.

The blood from the dread that had now been shortened splattered into Shadow's face. He moaned and spat in disgust but was unable to wipe it from his face. For now, it was the least of his worries.

"Slow down, you're leaving them behind." Shadow informed him as Knuckles hurried on like a rabbit being chased by a fox.

"Those fucking hunters weren't designed to run." Knuckles grunted past the agony that scratched and clawed at his heart, "but they'll sent reinforcements and block us off further up."

Knuckles came back to the vent they had been cowering in earlier. He shoved Shadow inside and climbed in after him. Their heavy breathing and footsteps resounded harshly in their ears.

"We'll go down the vent."

Shadow looked like he was about to protest. He had been willing before, yet now he looked uncertain. "What if there are more?"

"They're too fucking big to fit in a vent! Move!" Knuckles shoved him on. Echidnas felt no shame in using force. And here he applied it brutally. His instinct to survive overrode care or concern for anything else.

* * *

><p>The metal tunnels were like orifices curling deeper into alien confinement. The walls sung of cold slumbers. Death eternal.<p>

The twisted knobs, wires and electrical currents he felt from the partitions reminded him just how cynical and insane a human could be. It was a happy thought to know that there was just one of them now. Perhaps two if you counted Snively. Snively was another survivor from the Overlords. The humans liked to call themselves that, the 'forerunners of planet Mobius.' But the animals were around just as long, if not longer. It was only until after the mutation set in however to make them as they were now that the humans were threatened, but died mostly of disease anyway.

But the fact remained that Robotnik built fast, and in huge scales.

Though the vents were icy cold, sharp and unnatural, it was better than walking fully exposed to all enemies down below in the complex.

Sonic hoped Knuckles and Shadow had the same sense.

The air vents were maze-like. Some went down into deep, impenetrable blackness. Others hummed and blew drafts of cold air down the tunnels. Robotnik must have built hundreds to ventilate the whole complex, and in doing so, had unintentionally allowed a route for a pesky rodent such as himself to shuffle around in.

Though they were a manner of hiding, and going undetected through junctions and curbs, the tunnels were long, dark and very claustrophobic.

Sonic struggled along, determined to find and kill his long-time nemesis. After all, this place seemed mostly likely to hide such a bastard. The place was well-hidden for a start, and if it hadn't have been for that nasty little ferret, he may never have found it.

He just couldn't get over how huge this place was when it all started out as a little door.

A door that can conceal a base the size of the Great Forest…

He paused briefly to catch his breath, but mainly to rest his cramped side. The bowels of the vents caused every noise he made echo shrilly. Even his breathing seemed low and loud in his ears.

Then, the confined tunnel fogged to a deep guttural red and like a snake crawling up the walls, a faint darkness moved along the grey panels and a voice, dark and without haste, whispered in his ears, 'Sonic… Are you coming for me?'

Sonic backed away, growling and showing his teeth. He could see or smell nothing around him but the metal vent.

"Where are you?"

Then the redness and dark creeping shadows disappeared, and he was back in the lonely vent that groaned with the air-conditioning and back to the flickery lights along the low ceiling.

"What?" Was he going delusional?

Either I'm losing it or the walls can talk.

He had a good long look, but nothing else happened and he soon grew cold as draughts of air ruffled over his deep blue fur. When he wasn't moving, his bones seemed to freeze. So he started off again, heading easterly along the vents.

He wasn't sure where he was going. If Robotnik knew they were here in this fort, he either wouldn't care, or leave and run, like the coward he was and their attempts to find him would all be in vain.

But the emerald in Sonic's bag was growing steadily warmer. He could feel it through the cloth of the bag against his back. This either meant he was edging closer to another emerald or the Master Emerald itself.

It couldn't be Sargus. Apparently he had been told that the black emerald did not react to other emeralds.

So, using this as a faint guideline, Sonic pressed on, heading in one direction despite other branching passageways in the vents. And going other directions may just get him lost altogether.

But in the end, like he knew he would, Sonic crawled up to the dead end. There was another way that led to the left, but it meant changing direction.

Sonic adjusted his bag so that it lay further across his back. The emerald was now so hot it made him feel uncomfortable.

Just when he decided that going left was better then retracing his steps, the wall that he thought was a dead end, opened up, enabling him to continue on without being hampered.

Sonic thrust his ears back and felt the familiar old tension stirring within him.

Something wasn't right.

Walls didn't suddenly shift aside to let you through.

"I better not be dreaming."

Some part of him wanted to be dreaming. At least then the devastation of Knothole would be only a nasty nightmare and not part of reality at all.

But the pain in his maimed side was real. The wind gusting into his pale face was real.

And the wall had opened.

He came to an unsettling conclusion. That he was being observed.

Unless of course the vents were controlled somehow, and allowed rifts of air to blow down different passageways, depending on where it was needed most. That explanation seemed likely and far more welcoming than the latter.

Still, Sonic felt paranoid.

He looked at the new way forward, waiting for the wall to close in again. It didn't.

"Fuck."

Sonic shuffled forward, wondering why he hadn't seen something like this before. All other ways remained open.

Unchanged.

He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being led somewhere. And the fact remained that he was not forced to go that way. No. As all other passageways remained open.

He moved on, thinking all the while of what he was going to do to Robotnik once he found him.

Sonic paused again and rested against a cool panel. The artificial lights and chilly air ventilation made him feel faint and clammy.

What if this is it? What if this is the way forward? The way to Robotnik?

Sonic crept forward, aware of how hot the emerald was burning. Any hotter and he was sure it would burn a hole in the bag.

More flap doors opened ahead of him, creating a clear way to permit access.

"Yep. He's definitely watching me."

The cold air in the shaft suddenly slowed and then stopped and the silence in the vents became deafening.

He crawled further until he came upon a shaft of light shining through the vent floor. He got closer until he saw that the light came from beneath, from the complex because a panel was missing in the floor of the vent.

Sonic, without fear peered around, checking to see if there was anything down below patrolling the alien corridors.

The view wasn't much, but he could still see if there was any kind of threat waiting for him at the bottom. The asperity of the tunnel shafts was driving him to despair. He had to get out and use his legs.

At least there was plenty of light to see by. There always was in Robotnik's bases. Ironic really. Bases and forts were mostly used by robots who were more acquired to see in the dark. And since no organic organism thrived here, it seemed pointless to use such energy to create 'light.' Still, humans, as Rotor had always said, were greedy and narrow minded.

Still, the open corridor below held a sinister reticent energy in it. Almost as if some force would drive up and attack him as soon as he left the metal warren.

Sonic's fur bristled out, making him appear ragged and unkempt. He didn't like this, but he had to do something.

"If things get bad, I still have the emerald and my power ring."

The power items held little reassurance.

Sonic inhaled deeply, then jumped through the open panel and down into the complex.

His feet made a loud thud that echoed oppressively down the stark, frosty chambers when he landed.

At least he was no longer cramped from the sultry conditions of the vents above, however, being in the open made him feel careless and exposed.

Just as he was thinking this, doors opened. The walls shifted upwards like mouths. The chamber shivered and oscillated as the doors rumbled upward.

Yet beyond his chamber and in through that door was total blackness. There came the odd flickering light from somewhere within, but it was too dismal and weak to put any kind of illumination on what was in there.

Sonic stepped closer, his fine fur bristling out, making him look wild and truculent.

He could scent dry recycled air within the dark place beyond the door. But with the sultry coated scent of old air was the unmistakable bad smell of human sweat. It was strong, pungent and acidulous.

Along with the smells that left a bad taste in his mouth, he could hear the keen sound of heavy breathing inside. The breathing was heavy, low and took much longer intervals than an animal makes.

Sonic swallowed thinly and remembered the fiery demons in his nightmares. The darkness, and the human waiting for him in there.

The blue hero knew that this was what he came here for.

He stepped towards the open mouth of hell.

And welcomed the demons that came.


	14. Chapter 14 Commission

**Chapter 14: Commission**

Knuckles was panting irefully as they crawled through the small vents that winded along like metal intestines. The little beads of light on the small shaft ceiling was tiny, and not enough to see by, but like all echidnas, Knuckles had been perfectly evolved to see in poor light.

"I… I need to stop…" Shadow called from behind him. He sounded far away.

Knuckles promptly stopped, and listened for anything above or ahead of them. This place was as dead as the deep caverns in the pits of the planet's crust.

"It's just a little further," Knuckles reassured him prudently, "I can sense some sort of power far away, like a thunder storm approaching."

He heard Shadow shuffle as best he could up the vent, stopping occasionally to gasp and wheeze.

The echidna couldn't turn round to take in his feverish frame and shuddering profile. Maybe it was for the best.

"I… I just don't get it…" Knuckles said, conveying conversation, "if this is the hidden base in Wayland that holds the 'mad overlord,' then why did that arbiter tell the truth?" He screwed up his brow in thought. "It doesn't make any sense."

Why, why, why?

That stupid weasel-beast could have sent them on the wrong course. He could have sent them to the middle of nowhere. He could have got them into some rotting jungle ripe with enemies of Sonic. But the bastard didn't.

Shadow's voice was sharp with pain. "We don't know if the Doctor is even here. So the ferret could have just led us to any base. And he picked this one for us."

"So why this one? There are hundreds of bases on Mobius. Factories and shit like that. I can see them from the Floating Island. I'm sure you can see them from your Ark too." There was silence for a few heartbeats. Shadow's hard breathing was so loud Knuckles was surprised no enemy had heard it yet.

"Robotnik hides where he likes." Knuckles gravely continued. "And Sonic does all he can."

The end of the tunnel came rather suddenly for Knuckles as the echidna and hedgehog slowly made their way forward in stifling near-darkness.

Like Sonic, they hesitated, like rabbits at the mouth of a hole leading from their warren. What dangers awaited them beyond the safety of the vents?

"We're not leaving here, are we?" Shadow coughed, "we ran in here to escape."

"I sense an emerald, so I have to find it!" Knuckles replied with a touch of annoyance. "I came here to seek the Master Emerald after all. What did you come here for?"

"Sargus…" He answered bleakly.

"Sargus, huh?" He kept his eyes pinned on the way out ahead, "and what are you going to do when you find it? Destroy it?"

Shadow didn't produce a response.

Knuckles grunted. "Well, I know what I've come here to do."

He reached the exit in seconds and edged his nose out into the open. Then, unable to smell fresh oil or hear the horrendous whirr or robot circuits and joints, Knuckles lowered his head out into the open, shortly followed by his body.

The new area was more open and led into two narrower corridors. Three alcoves shaped the ceiling where sentry cameras stared down at them.

Knuckles turned and helped Shadow out of the vent. When the echidna touched him, he felt how hot he was beneath his fur. His nose was dry, and his eyes had become bloodshot.

"This place looks the same." Shadow observed when Knuckles let him go. He couldn't stand very well, and placed both hands on the wall.

"Robotnik designed his bases to all look the same." Knuckles claimed without perturbation. "It's designed to confuse all who enter it."

At that moment, when he turned back to study the new place they were in, he wished he had never turned away to concern himself over the hedgehog.

Standing there, silent and still, stood an echidna. It was as red as he was, but its eyes were as black as a winter night without stars or moon.

Its claws were long, elongated and silver. Its posture matched his in certain ways, however it still held the ridged typical frame of an android and it was this that gave it away.

Startled and fearful, Knuckles stepped back and bumped into Shadow. How it had appeared so suddenly and quietly out of nowhere frightened him more than anything ever could.

The robot android stood twenty paces from where they stood. The vent exit was right at Knuckles' side. He might be able to squeeze back in there in time before it launched itself at them, but that meant leaving Shadow behind.

That he would not do.

The echidna android still did not move.

Knuckles stared back at it, face blanched in anxiety. This was the same robot that invaded his Angel Island. The same one that ripped Sonic's side and left him to bleed to death by the temple. The same one that stole the Master Emerald.

It had to be.

One of its arms was metallic grey. The other was red, which might mean its arm could have been damaged in the past and either Robotnik couldn't match its other red arm or simply didn't have the time to do a proper job of it.

"Shadow," Knuckles whispered to him out of the corner of his mouth, "when I say run, you run…"

Shadow started to reply, when the echidna advanced towards the robot, which in Sonic's experience, would have been a bad move. Perhaps it was the stress that effected Knuckles' better judgement. That or the unyielding adrenaline.

Like facing a cat, it was best to allow it to make the first leap. If you didn't and ran, the cat would follow in stealth and you wouldn't see it coming until it was too late.

Now, like the cat, this android was unpredictable and best left to see what it would do from a distance.

Knuckles did not. He had faced it before, and was confident enough to not allow it to beat him again.

"What did you do with that Master Emerald, huh?" Knuckles asked it as if it were perfectly capable of answering in lapine, "can you understand me? Can you fucking talk, you cretin!"

It attacked. Provoked by something the animals would never know.

The metallic echidna moved like the hunters. It slashed upward and moved as sleek was water yet it bore no weaponry. It was a primal weapon, much like the design it was built upon.

Knuckles stepped to the left, and felt the breath of its claws across his chest, just missing him.

It came down again, emotionless but set in its task beyond comprehension.

Knuckles couldn't grab its claws, they were too fast and heavy.

As the android turned, raising both its mole-like claws, Knuckles pummeled it in the torso and tried to push it back using his weight.

Shadow watched, frozen in place, unable to do anything but stare and gape.

"Fuck you!" Knuckles saw that his weight had little effect on a two-ton robot double his weight with gears and steel in its pelt. He smashed his own fist against the android, but the echidna kicked him in the stomach, sending Knuckles to the floor.

As it rose its claws again, Knuckles crawled away, managed to get back up and run. It was too much. Retreat was the only way out. "Shadow, fucking run!"

Knuckles went straight for the vent. It was a safe exit.

The echidna robot was faster.

It moved like a shadow, and was behind him in a blink on an eye.

Using its claws like a sickle, it slammed its paw down and impaled the echidna's leg in one blow.

Knuckles roared.

He felt the scythe sink through flesh and bone, and even went into the floor.

The echidna was trapped, with pain lurching up his nerves as if someone had jammed a hot arrow into his back.

Shadow valiantly came up from behind the android and whacked it on the head using his fists.

Without much attention, the robot struck him half-heartedly across his chest, sending him flying into the wall. In order to do this it had to re-engage its claws, thus freeing Knuckles.

Upon impact, Shadow slithered down the partition, leaving a deep red blood trail. He hit the floor and slumped, eyes closed.

A kind of dark, kamikaze rage consumed Knuckles as he lay on the floor after watching Shadow smack the wall at death-defying speeds.

The immense pain in the leg welled and then died under the tongue-licked flame of anger kindling in his heart.

Blood pouring from his puncture-wound, Knuckles stood up, growling and roaring like some beast in the darkest pits of hell. He slammed into the robot, took it down and they rolled together on the floor, swapping blows and slashing at each other.

Metal was hard to dent but the steel was softer on the shoulders and legs of the android, leaving the skull the hardest to damage.

Using his teeth, Knuckles bit into the android's neck, feeling oil bubble and spurt in his mouth. He ripped out wires and thin plastic tubing, but the android, unfazed, tackled him onto the floor and made a deep long cut across Knuckles' muzzle and across his eye.

Blood flickered onto the floor, and after feeling more rushing pain, Knuckles kicked the robot off him, snorting and cursing.

The artificial echidna stumbled back, found its feet but made a clumsy, ignorant approach as it feet slipped on oil. More black fluid spurted from its neck, making a wet bib of oil on its chest.

Knuckles was losing consciousness. His blood-curdling fury was dissipating fast. He punched the robot one last time to keep it on the floor before clambering for Shadow.

Knuckles, covered in oil and blood, gathered the unresponsive hedgehog into his arms as red liquid splashed down his leg in gluttonous amounts.

The robot was struggling upward, its black eyes as focused as ever, while ignorant to the damage it had obtained.

Knuckles lumbered away as fast as he could manage, while Shadow felt unnaturally heavy in his arms.

Stars danced before him. Everywhere was blood…

In his haste, he fell down a corridor that angled downward instead of its usual floor level, sending Knuckles and Shadow spiraling down into the darkness of Robotnik's base.

Doors opened and snapped closed as they flew down. Knuckles was screaming in pain. Friction gnashed against his wounded leg. Blood oozed out, leaving a long red trail behind them.

He dropped Shadow, unable to hold onto him as the steep descent continued.

This is it, he thought in panic; this is where we die…

Tumbling… falling…

The world was as black as the android's eyes.

When they stopped and came to rest, Knuckles didn't know it at first. Though his body had stopped, his mind was still reeling in endless circles. Spinning endlessly… nothing to hold onto… Fear and panic…

When his dizziness cleared and heard someone coughing their guts up close by, he opened his eyes and found himself lying on robot debris and rubbish. It took a while for him to regain his senses as he peered into their new world bereft of any help.

They were alone, deep within human torment and an affinity to breed robots for the soul purpose to kill all life on Mobius.

Knuckles struggled to sit up. Every part of him hurt, and he was weak from blood loss.

Shadow was close by, lying taut on his side. He was coughing, and that was a good sign. He was alive and breathing. Knuckles had feared that the echidna android had killed him.

Hissing from the agony biting his leg, Knuckles ripped off his gloves and pressed them against the wound. He yelped loudly and growled thickly from anger and hurt. The bone was probably broken and it seemed likely that he would not make it out of this place alive.

He managed to crawl over to where Shadow lay, then slumped down pliantly on hard rubble and twisted copper sheets. This looked like the graveyard for robots, which wasn't so bad, because Knuckles was able to find wire threads and insulating fabric to make a tight gauge dressing over the bloody hole in his leg.

As he sat in the dark, he wondered if the robot echidna would pursue them, or send for backup first.

So far, they were diligently alone in piles of discarded paper documents and robot carcasses. And as he listened and drew in the environment around him, he felt high levels of energy in the walls.

Lining the walls and flooring, half buried by misshapen junk were old metal desks, books and a few chairs. It looked like it could have held some other purpose at some point in time. Now however, it looked like a disused cell, and a purpose for discarded remains.

It could have been a worse place to land in.

Shadow moaned and moved his head. He was bleeding from his nose and ears.

Knuckles held him still, and instructed him to stay calm for a while. He did not want to lose Shadow.

"W-Where… where are we?" Shadow whispered at length after opening his eyes.

"I'm not sure." Knuckles replied. His head cleared a little from the pain as his natural painkillers (endorphins) kicked in to numb the pain. "We fell down what must have been a chute for rubbish. But we escaped from that robot, and that is what counts."

"How big is this place?"

Knuckles shook his head and felt Shadow's skull and back for damage.

"My back hurts." Shadow gasped while Knuckles was inspecting his body, "but I don't think it's broken. I… I can still move." As if to prove it, he tried to get up on all fours, but collapsed back down again in the dirt.

"You were lucky." Knuckles said, leaning away to content with his own injury. Blood was still dripping down from the bandages he had made and pooled into the sock in his shoe.

The only strip of light came from above, where they had fallen. When Knuckles looked up, he could discern a sea of dust swarming in the languid light.

Still, the energy signals were stronger down here than up there. Animals are highly sensitive to energy fluxes in the air and can sense oppressive vivacity if it is close enough. Humans have a low sense of this ability, but it's still enough for a human to tell how large a crowd can be, or the strength of the wind coming.

After a long time, Shadow gained enough vigor to sit up. His ears had drooped and his pupils were misty and diluted.

Knuckles waded around in the rubble slowly, dragging his leg along behind him. Then, as he had hoped, he found a small metal door to the left behind a broken bookcase. It had no door handle, but could be easily pushed open from his side.

When he opened the little door, a wave of new, bright light flushed into the dank pit of rubbish and Knuckles had to squint against the brightness.

Not only had he found a way out, he had also found a small research room. The research room that was protected and guarded from every angle except from the rubbish pit. And within that room were test tubes, bottles, scientific human items, computers and amongst all of it, was Sargus.


	15. Chapter 15 In This Farewell

**In this farewell**

'_A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.'_

Christopher Reeve.

/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/

"Come closer, my little blue rodent. Come closer, where I can see you…"

A voice, as dark as death, broken only by malice and scorn, floated up from the place where full darkness throbbed and swarmed. Where true evil awaited him and where the flies buzzed and the corpses grinned.

This was where all nightmares originated. This was the dark place one falls to in their deep consciousness. This was where the devils spawned, and where true hate thrived.

"Come, come. Don't be afraid…"

Said the spider to the fly.

As soon as Sonic went into the dark void, beckoned by the voice sugar-coated with loathing, the door behind him vaulted shut. His only escape, was gone.

But that did not worry him. He knew this was a one way trip, and he forced back the fear unsuccessfully.

Here was now.

The void, the voice… it reminded him of dark tales he used to hear back in Knothole. They used to speak of a world full of humans. 'Imagine that?' They would say. The chaos. The evil. Destroying everything, spoiling their world, murdering their brothers and sisters and hanging up animals to dry in abattoirs.

That would be a world run by mankind.

And that would be Mobius' future, if Robotnik were to live, and conquer the technology to create clones.

"Robotnik… Show yourself… I know you're in here…" He tried to pierce the mantilla of darkness with his eyes. A soft green glow was throbbing far to the left, but that dim light revealed nothing.

"I've waited so very long for this moment hedgehog… Look at me, you fucking rodent. Look upon me… as your God and bow before my superiority!"

Something shunted in the background. A thick surge of electrical power rattled in the complex and a great boom of beseeching light struck the room in a cold, green skin.

The Master Emerald sat heavily in one corner of the room, fitted with wires like it had been given some kind of life support. It pulsed erratically, spewing out the illumination he was using to see now.

The gigantic figure of Robotnik sat, or rather, slobbed right next to it. And Sonic could not recognise him at first, because he had changed so much.

The darkness made him harder to see, but he was there, and very much alive and as ugly as before.

His breathing was loud and ponderous. His great hulking mass touched the very ceiling on the confined chamber. But he didn't look very human anymore.

His bubbling gait was still there. So was his fat hide and thick blemished face. His red, cyborg eyes held the same resentment and cold emotion as his robots had. They bore out, bright and sharp as evil itself in a dark, wrinkly face.

His neck was coated in thick metal knobs while both his arms; legs and chest had been converted into cyborg parts.

The human wore a cape, but it seemed to hold more purpose to hide his swollen back that looked thick and diseased with lumps. As Sonic took in his monumental size, he saw dozens of cyber tentacles coiled round his crouched frame, and this unnerved him slightly, but he didn't let it show.

The air reverberated with the sounds of malicious laughter. It was clear, that deep inside the fat master of pain and suffering, that within, he was still as black hearted as when they first met.

"Do you like my new gear, hedgehog? It took me a long time to harness and perfect the very best weaponry." His cheeks wobbled revoltingly like jelly. His fat lard of a belly however was protected by yet more metal. The only part of him that didn't appear protected was his face. "You see, I knew… I knew you would come. And let me tell you something…" He squatted in a better position, and his whole weight seemed to shift, causing the ground at Sonic's feet to vibrate slightly. "There's nothing better than to kill an animal. You must understand why I do it, my little rodent. It's the power you see, the control. As soon as you kill one, you want nothing more than to kill another. Then you want to kill hundreds, thousands." He chuckled pessimistically as if were foretelling nothing but a poem or a grim joke. "You can't stop, hedgehog. To feel their blood pumping in your hands… to glean upon their inner workings… the very fabric that they're built upon…"

Sonic knew that if he lost it now, there would be no turning back. So, despite the fury and horror surging through his blood, he remained still and silent while Robotnik laughed at the hilarity of his grand, dark hobbies.

Almost like it were a tail, a metal tentacle lifted during the human's bout of insolent laughs, then lay to rest once more among the others.

Fraught after watching it move, Sonic asked out of the blue, "so where's yer sidekick, your human slave you used to call, Snively?" His words were locked tight with tension like locks in a chain.

Robotnik grinned wildly and twiddled his thumbs as if he were enjoying this conversation with his much-hated enemy. His face lighted up, yet it still unmistakably held the resemblance of a walrus while his body held the appeal of an iron dragon.

Again he fidgeted, and the green glow from the emerald fell upon his back, revealing thick metal tubing that ran down into Robotnik's spine and neck. It was then that Sonic realised that Robotnik was being fed energy from the Master Emerald itself. The tubes connected with the emerald on the floor, mostly hidden by the overlapping shadows. Also on his arched back was a sort of metal generator and it was this that the long tentacles emerged from.

"Ahh, yes. I remember him well," the contemptuous human resounded in intelligible lapine, "I never thought that human flesh could be so sweet and succulent. It's a shame he didn't last. I like my food."

Sonic covered his mouth, suddenly feeling sick. He did not notice a lone tentacle edge towards him, which all this time, had been crawling ever closer to where he stood. It took to the shadows, moving craftily around the edge of the room in gentle slithers. When it struck from a distance of thirty yards, Sonic did not see it in time.

The tentacle launched itself like a snake, shooting forward at incredible speed.

But Sonic had been tense and ready the whole time. Heart and mind racing together as one.

When the tentacle came rushing towards him, he acted in a split second just before it reached him. He fell down and hit the floor while the tentacle carried on with its momentum.

It smashed into the wall behind him, sending sprays of slab metal and dust into the air.

Sonic curled into his ball and flashed across the room, leaving a bright blue trail behind him.

Robotnik still squatted, emotionless and unfazed. The glow from the hooked up Master Emerald fluxed greatly as potent power surged through the tubes and into the generator that was implanted in his fat body.

With calm calculation, he waited for Sonic to strike.

The hedgehog did not disappoint.

Sonic uncurled at the last moment before they collided, face wild and teeth drawn. He raised his fist, ready to pummel the Doctor as hard as he could with the speed and impetus energy fuming behind him.

Robotnik met Sonic's chagrined flat grimace with his own demonic smile. Then, laced with the power from the throbbing emerald, they clashed. Thunder wrought and flickered in the chamber.

Overpowered, Sonic was whacked across the chest and sent flying towards the wall. Somehow he managed to swerve in the air and using animal instincts that he never thought he had, landed with his feet pressed into the wall where he then softy somersaulted back to the floor.

Robotnik was laughing. The twelve tentacles he possessed flew up into the air; uncoiling themselves from the floor and zipping towards Sonic like crows.

The hedgehog darted away and two black snake feelers went crashing into the wall. The other ten turned and followed him. But it wasn't just the tentacles he had to worry about. Robotnik himself crouched upward and swung at Sonic when he was within reach.

Just when Sonic could dodge everything without too much skill, one tentacle stopped, opened up its tip like a flower and lazer fire tore from its new mouth.

Robotnik had thought of every trick in the game.

Sonic couldn't leap and avoid everything. After swerving from the lazer fire and rolling away from eleven tentacles swishing towards him like jungle vines, he did not see Robotnik's fist rushing at him like an avalanche of rock.

It hit him square in his wounded side.

Sonic tumbled away, dust seething in clouds.

At last when he came to rest, the tentacles hung in the air, yet did not attack. It seemed that Robotnik could control them with his mind and they obeyed his every will without executing any extra effort in his behalf.

"Why do you persist on fighting?" Robotnik's voice curdled from the deep black abyss of the room. Pain was shooting up Sonic's head and ribcage. He didn't want to listen. "I could tell you were injured by the limp you had when you first walked in here. Do not pretend I did not notice." He sounded jibbed and a little angry, which made an unpleasant change from his usual joking self. Perhaps the beginnings of the fight had re-evoked the evil in him even more so.

Sonic tried to get back up. So Robotnik knew where to hit him. Great. Just great.

He shook the heavy dust from his fur and blinked away the little white dots flashing in his eyes.

"Animals. Pure barbaric animals do not win." He slobbered callously. "We humans… the overlanders of this planet were meant to be the rulers! We were the forerunners! The ones who started life on this forsaken ball of shit!" He roared and spat. "But you filthy animals fucking destroyed us! Oh yes! And for that you shall pay… hedgehog."

Sonic shook his head, pleading for the pain to stop. Yet he was confident despite the obvious disadvantages he was set under. The bag strapped onto his shoulders held the key to his victory even if the human devoured the energy of the Master Emerald like a guzzling pig.

Robotnik began to step forward. His heavy boots made the walls rattle. The tubes throbbing in his neck looked nightmarish and foul.

"I've always wanted your head displayed on my bedroom wall," the tentacles shivered with something that could have been excitement, "but after years of trying to capture and kill you, I've grown tired of that dream. So tired. And hate has a way of changing things. Don't you agree?"

Sonic lay where he was, pretending to be utterly defeated as the warlord stumbled closer. The fat on his chin moved and bubbled like wet dough. His legs were like tree trunks.

Sonic cowered in the human's shadow as it moved over his lithe, bruised form.

"I will snap your spine like a twig. I shall squeeze your chest hard enough to make your heart burst."

The redolent stench from his fatty body was overwhelming. And when he grinned, his teeth were as yellow and as rotten as Outcast's had been.

Just before Robotnik bent down to scoop him up, Sonic slipped away, limping hard. His speed was now ineptly crippled, making him lame.

Robotnik watched him smugly; perfectly conceited and proud despite his new malformed body that made him beyond ugly from vain melioration. But his cosseted expression soon changed when he saw Sonic pause away from him on the far side of the room and take out a power ring from the bag he carried.

Then, Sonic charged forward, his limp making his approach look almost humorous to Robotnik's complacent eyes.

"You were never the subservient type, were you?"

"Join your ancestors in hell, Robutnik!"

The tentacles refreshed their assault, and came at the hedgehog like slithering shadows. But Sonic ignored them and activated his power ring.

Robotnik bellowed some kind of war cry, causing his whole saggy throat to ripple from the vibration. Then his titan fist collided with Sonic's. The luminescence from the power ring overwhelmed the lambent glow of the pulsing Master Emerald and stung the human's little red cyborg eyes. He howled tortuously, shutting his eyes against the incandesce.

Using the power ring may not have been a wise move. The febrile bond of power against power made the energy unstable. The ring fought against the fluxes of the Master Emerald and the generator fixed upon the human's back cackled with thunderous electric.

Streaks of clawed lightening struck both of them, and Sonic, dropping the ring, was faintly aware that he had hit a wall. Robotnik was ten yards away, holding his head and roaring like a wounded whale. The electricity was still wracking over him, again and again.

Sonic dropped down from the wall and felt blood at the back of his head. He could not even see the ring among the dirt on the floor, and even if he had, the energy it possessed had all dried up by now.

The electricity began to die as the fluxes returned back to the normal levels in the generator. And Robotnik looked very, very angry.

He stood still like a sentiment statue, red eyes peering out from his face shrouded in smothering darkness.

"Oh you rotten little beast." He wheezed, flexing his giant iron hands. "How I shall enjoy this. Oh how I shall…"

Sonic looked up at him, terror seizing every single nerve and freezing his harden muscles. The power ring had failed him. And now there was nothing between him and Robotnik.

Just lots of flickering tentacles.

One of the long black snake things rose up and grabbed his ankle. He instantly flinched up, bucking and kicking, fur bristling in panic and anger.

The tentacle wound fast, securing a tight grip almost impossible to loosen. Then it lifted, and using its enormous strength, lifted him up as well.

Sonic shouted, hissed and spat like a fox in a snare.

His struggled just added to Robotnik's amusement.

The tentacle swerved round to its owner, and Sonic was left hanging upside down, in the face of Robotnik himself.

The human giant's skin looked sickeningly green under the baying light of the Master Emerald.

"Well, you have survived this far." He smiled, cyborg eyes brightening lustfully. "I hate to see it over so soon, but you see, I have to kill. Oh I must. You understand don't you? It's nothing personal!"

As Robotnik spoke, Sonic slowly pulled the blue chaos emerald from his bag and kept it in his hand behind his back where the fat warlord could not see.

Robotnik drew him closer and another tentacle came and wrapped itself round his neck and he was turned right side up.

"Cheer up hedgehog. Don't you play with your food first?"


	16. Chapter 16 No More Sorrow

**Chapter 16: No more sorrow**

'_Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.'_

Napoleon Hill (1883-1970) American speaker and motivational writer.

* * *

><p>Knuckles, using one leg to limp and hop around, held onto human furniture and pulled himself into a metal chair that felt extremely uncomfortable to sit on.<p>

Shadow had come along too; his fur still caked in remnants of mud and dried crimson blood. He stared at the black emerald in the glass cylinder that hung suspended in the centre as if held there by dark magic. Inside the cylinder it was filled with a green liquid substance, lavished in little air bubbles that rose and descended.

Knuckles grabbed a book and some papers. They were all filled with writing. They were words he had never seen before. It was all written in a human language he could not understand.

"Shadow, can you make any of this out?" He knew by common knowledge that Shadow had been a genetic experiment by humans and knew more about the human culture than anyone else of Mobius.

Shadow took the papers and looked through them idly as if they were of no more interest than a looking at a rock.

"Well, can you read it out to me?" The echidna asked with a slightly impatient snarl. The pain in his leg fed his burning anger.

Shadow, standing upright, walked a little away from him and began. His voice was thick and low.

"Sargus. Production notes." He looked at the condition of the paper. "These are very old documents that Robotnik must have kept around to learn more about its secrets." He gazed back at the scrawled human words on the paper and continued. "The eighth emerald, Sa-ra-gus. Artificially made along with project Shadow. The emerald's devine purpose was to shut project Shadow down if something went wrong. Sargus is a fail-safe artefact. If Black Doom (Shadow's original creator) didn't keep to his side of the bargain and turn Project Shadow into a murderous monster, then Sargus would stop it from ever happening. Sargus works on negative energy. To work it would need to absorb all of project Shadow's energy and kill or being about total comatose on the creature."

Shadow looked up, trying to appear cold and sagacious. "So Prof. Gerald created an effective backup device to stop me if he wanted to."

Knuckles shrugged. "How the hell can you read all that mumbo-jumbo? Did that man human scientist teach you?"

Shadow shook his head. "I taught myself."

"Well, does it explain how to destroy it? And while you're at it, tell me if it says anything on treating broken legs. I could do with some special care."

Shadow grimaced a little. This was no time for jokes.

He read on. "Sargus does not react to other emeralds. Its power can only be channelled through Shadow." He stopped again. "Maria must not have known about this. Gerald hid this artefact…"

"And Eggman must have found it." Knuckles ended for him. "Humans don't hide things very well, do they?"

Shadow put the papers back down on the metal desk. Some of its bolts and nuts in the table had withered with rust. "There's nothing on how to destroy it."

"So aren't you going to try? Fuck my leg!" He bent down, tears streaming from his violet eyes. "We need to find Sonic and get out of here. Take Sargus with you."

Shadow looked over his shoulder at the emerald glaring at them from its safe green prison. It looked as dangerous as a viper he saw once out on the plains of Mobius. It stared at him, just as the emerald was doing now.

"Do it!" Knuckles rasped, "stop looking at it and bloody take it!"

Shadow smashed his fist into the glass cylinder and water jettisoned out. The cylinder broke and shattered into pieces. Sargus dropped heavily from its broken casing and landed like a stone on the wet green floor.

Knuckles mustered up the courage to stand heavily on one leg again. "At least you've found it. I still don't know where the Master Emerald is. The energy I sensed came from your emerald, so now we must find Sonic."

"What if he's fighting the Doctor?"

"Then we'll help him. Don't you want to kill the bastard after what he did to you?"

Shadow gave a small nod and picked up the black emerald. Its weight was so dense that he almost dropped it again. "We need to destroy it…"

"You know the hell we had to go through last time. I couldn't even dent it with my fists. It's your job it figure it out." Blood leaked down his bandages, leaving a fresh scarlet trail wherever he went. Shadow knew he wouldn't be able to go much further. They didn't have time to find Sonic.

"We'd best start finding a way back up." Knuckles was saying as he looked about him.

"What about the androids up there?"

"I'll deal with them. I've still got some fight left in me."

Together with the black emerald in Shadow's hand, they wadded through various human junk and slowly made it to a door which led back into the cold, heartless complex.

* * *

><p>Somewhere along the way, Sonic must have passed out.<p>

Images, worn and hazed, came to him like ones in a dream. Outcast was smiling through the redolent embers of the fire. And behind him, laughing and snickering was Robotnik. His gigantic fire shadowed the whole of Mobius, and he could look from one end of the planet to the other, planning.

Always with his devious planning.

Planning for his next abattoir or perhaps a fine little slaughterhouse by the sea.

The dead clung to the inside of his cape. Their eyeless faces and white skulls peered out, whispering and moaning from the darkness.

You understand don't you? It's nothing personal!

The cape that was seething with putrescent souls and viscera, smothered over Sonic like a blanket and the damned screamed and wailed in his ears.

Then the slow beat of green radiance grew against the darkness of his sight, and he felt pain, deep and raw.

He diligently opened his eyes and saw greenness from the Master Emerald shadow the room. Tentacles, all smooth and sable, as if they were had been polished in a wax coat, loitered over his head as if they had minds of their own. As if they were waiting further orders from their lust-induced master.

The unkempt gait of a human, large and clumsy, hung over him like a spider waiting until it devoured its prey.

"Thought of joining us again, did you? Good. I was beginning to grow bored."

A strong, putrid smell of urine and ordure impacted his senses, and it was enough to make him choke on his own vomit.

He turned over to rest on his side and emptied acidic water from his already-empty stomach.

Robotnik growled impatiently, and a few more tentacles constricted themselves tightly round Sonic's chest and pelvis.

As the hedgehog slowly came too, and after vomiting bitter fluid, he saw a soft dash of azure light flicker in the corner of his eye. He glanced up slowly and carefully; making sure Robotnik did not know exactly what he was looking at.

Then he saw it.

The blue chaos emerald lay only a yard and a half from him. His ripped sorrel bag sat inches beside it.

How long had it been there?

Why hadn't Robotnik taken it?

Had he even noticed it was lying there all this time?

"I played around with Snivley too, for a time until I just killed him..."

The tentacles holding him down squeezed tighter until he felt he could scarcely breathe.

His legs felt like they had been submerged in sticky hot blood. His arms and feet fell into a fit of tremors.

"I wanted you to come all this time. I wanted to rip you apart. I was the one who opened the doors to the vent. I sent a scout of androids to corner a lowly weasel beast and made sure that he told you I was waiting in the mountains. It's a shame your friend Shadow never did his job for me, but he'll pay the price…"

The blue emerald was but inches from him. He had to reach it. Nothing else mattered now.

Robotnik was too far-gone and utterly consumed with his current bloody fantasy. Maybe that was why he had been ignorant of the emerald in the first place.

Come on… so close…

The blood-loss. The shock.

The horror.

Sonic grabbed the emerald, and almost felt it slip from the blood covering his hands.

"Take this…"

He thrust the emerald towards Robotnik, and charged by Sonic's will, the emerald attacked and destroyed for him.

The giant fell back, fists clamped against his face, screaming and roaring as if the swirling blue energy stung his eyes.

Then Sonic mentally pushed himself into an attack.

He thought of Sally.

Of a burned and demolished Knothole.

It was all he could do to keep from screaming and passing out right there on the floor.

He reeled into a ball and spun horizontally, blood spurting from his spines as he closed in with Robotnik.

"Die, hedgehog…"

The human had recovered enough from the jolt of the emerald to defend himself. The tentacles all lashed out in unison like a wave rolling up on the shore. His iron fists punched the air as he tried to hit Sonic. But the lame hedgehog sliced through one of his hands clean.

The human bellowed in something akin to pain, but it sounded more from a cry of anger and hate.

"Oh now you'll get it."


	17. Chapter 17 In the End

**Chapter 17: In the End**

Sonic was past caring.

The power ring must have done something to the generator and the power fluxes to the Master Emerald. Now it was delivering a vaster energy amount each time through the tubes, and Robotnik seemed to be having problems controlling it.

Sonic would have tried to cut into those pipes that served as a circuit to consume power, but the metal it was made out of was too hard for him to pierce. It was granite. It cut the human's agility and manoeuvrability, but why have that when you had the power?

Robotnik missed his target again. Sweat slithered down his greasy brow. Blood fountained foully over his throbbing wrist. The ugly pain of it all made him light headed.

But how could this be happening?

He had everything planned from every little detail!

Why was the hedgehog still alive? How?

This wasn't how things were supposed to go!

Why did nothing ever go as planned?

"Curse you!" His remaining fist smashed into a wall where he thought he would be able to catch the fucking fly in mid-air. He missed.

Chunks of wall and rubble fell down and banged against his precious generator. The Master emerald, disrupted by the power ring, was overheating. Soon if it continued, it would explode.

Sonic's spinning blur cut down from above and ripped two tentacles in half. The other ten tried to follow his sharp movements, only to bash into each other and damage themselves.

Unable to tolerate any more pain, Sonic relaxed from his ball and fell into a bloodied heap on the floor. The blue emerald shot across the room and hit the Master Emerald that radiated violently.

The stresses from the high energy field caused a long crack to splinter up a wall. It spread out into the ceiling like a spider web, and a lassitude of cracks followed.

"You devil!" Robotnik almost plundered onto the floor himself. His eyes glowed madly. Foam and rabid spit curled and gnashed at his teeth. The thick blubber under his belly wobbled and swayed. "How dare you hur…" His eyebrows fused, "…injure me like this! We're both going to die down here, you despicable rodent!"

Sonic raised himself up on his arms, fresh blood spreading out from his wounds. He could barely see anymore. "It's not the question of who dies…" A spurt of pure agony seized his maimed side, "it's the matter of who lives to see the other die first…"

Robotnik faintly laughed and held up the bloody stump of what was left of his hand. "Ah. I see."

So hate was strong after all.

"If that is how it ends, I shall enjoy relishing upon the last seconds of your life." Robotnik did not need to move. The tentacles covered ground for him as fast as hawk in full flight. "You must remember though, when you spiral into your next life, that heroes are nothing but a smear under someone's boot."

Sonic was no longer afraid. He had been through so much, and the only thing keeping him going was to see the tyrant die before his eyes.

Nothing else mattered.

Not Shadow. Not Knuckles.

Not the winter and the summer he would miss.

Not the princess that stood waiting for him, pregnant with his child.

Not the friends he had made and vowed to protect.

Because he was already doing this for them.

The tentacles attacked in their predicable routine, and Sonic instinctively tried to get up and run, but could only run in his mind.

Faintness overcame him. He felt like he was turning over on the floor of a cave in a cliff face with a war waging outside the hole. He felt like he was lying on bitter snow in a blood-choked land without refuge.

He didn't feel the initial crack as Robotnik threw him against the wall. He didn't see the Master Emerald glow a zealous display of white-hot light. He didn't hear the walls and ceiling groan and shudder.

But he saw Robotnik's face through the lime green curtain. His mouth was pulled back, aghast and helpless.

Perhaps even horrified would have been a good word to describe it.

Finally, he was thrown into a corner where he gladly rested, mind numb from all the pain and corruption.

"I'll see you in hell, Robotnik."

The warlord made the most unnatural of sounds. Screaming he was. Slobbering great guttural noises that fitted more of a pig than a man. Then again, what had Robotnik turned into? Did he stay a man? Or had he become an obsessed genius who had fused himself with machine?

Maybe he was a maniac? Consumed with killing the innocent and slaughtering those who were considered 'weaker' than himself?

Or was he an animal? Had he become what he so loathed? After all that he had strove for?

Sonic could answer none of these questions, because he no longer knew himself.

In the end, nothing goes as the story tells it.

In the end, as all good stories go, the hero saves the world and defeats his enemy.

In the end knights defeat dragons.

Damsels are saved.

Disasters are stopped

The hero is remembered and hailed long after his death of old age.

But this time, Sonic knew, as he had in the beginning, that his end would be somewhat different.

He also knew that only through sacrifice, would he gain the destruction of Doctor Robotnik and ensure the safety of his children, and of his friends, and of the animals of Mobius.

Seeing Robotnik dying, and knowing that Mobius was going to be free of his monstrous tyranny was all that he wanted.

There would be no more fear.

No more shadows haunting a bedtime story late at night.

No ghouls in the dark.

No more androids feasting upon animals.

No more slavery.

No more cruelty.

Sonic's love for freedom, and his love for Mobius had ended all wars.

He had stopped Doctor Robotnik.

In a way, if seemed like their destiny.

Ironically, Robotnik was going to die by his own hands. It was he who had hooked the Master Emerald up, thinking that he could control it, as humans generally thought when something was out of their principle of logic.

And that was his downfall, in the end.

The glow was so bright it engulfed the room. It made the cracks peel out white and stark. All shadows were devoured. Nothing stood protected as the fiendish lambent energy consumed everything.

Nothing.

Robotnik had collapsed onto the floor. His own weight so great, it was almost impossible to get back up.

But he wasn't going to.

The full energies of power running from the tubes and wires had made him sick, and instead filled him with toxin instead of subtle irresistible elixir.

He was finished.

Sonic had won.

The hedgehog lay his head down on the turf floor, and smiled without pain. Without trouble. He had always been a creature that had been blessed from inhibiting self-doubt. He was carefree. Adventurous. A creature that always kept his eyes on the horizon.

"Sal, I'll always be with you…" A metal pipe burst, sending hot rancid air seething into the chaos of the room. Wires snapped. Robotnik's generator flickered with the beginnings of a fire. An initial explosion rattled the chamber, and shrapnel blew out everywhere. Something hot and sharp pierced Sonic's ribcage. He winced, barely registering it. A secondary explosion flurried up a raging fire, and everything became black.

/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/

Knuckles and Shadow scrambled over the dead echidna robot, almost slipped on its oil and surged on as if they had black demons approaching them fast from behind.

They had found an outlet, leading them back down the corridors from where they came. They had forgotten about where the android echidna might be, but when they saw it crumpled on the wall, the two of them stampeded over it and continued without stopping.

Their haste, though blind and hasty, did not go without purpose.

The walls were crumbling.

A giant sigh riveted down the complex, and Knuckles felt the ceiling shudder under a sullen massive weight that could bring the walls crashing down upon them. They had to get out.

Together, after making a collective decision without speaking (they could sense it in one another without need for words), they started heading back along the rooms and chambers of a mad human's world.

The grumbling and ear-splitting shrieks coming from the walls made it sound as though a giant creature outside was slowly and loudly eating the metal of Robotnik's hideout.

"I think they must have either destroyed themselves or left the place."

Around the bend of a sick, twisted metal warren was a single hunter, but it walked cautiously, and peered up at the ceiling as if seeking the design for cracks or imperfections.

Knuckles yelped tightly at the back of his throat, his leg bleeding steadily.

Shadow was beside him, the black emerald in his hand. Then, he did the unexpected.

He threw Sargus at the hunter.

Knuckles cursed and hid back round the corner, breath hissing out between his teeth.

"I'm gonna nail you to my door you fucking useless hedgehog! Now we're doomed!"

He listened, and sure enough a blast of explosive discharge rang out. Shortly after, Knuckles could smell toxic fumes from the lazer round. That and burning fuels.

Shadow smirked despite the aversion and general idea of getting them spotted and killed.

"It destroyed it."

"Come again?"

"Sargus. The hunter destroyed the black emerald."

Knuckles peered back round the corner, his pained leg making it all the harder to concentrate and focus at one object.

The charred remains of an emerald lay smoking in ruin. The hunter stared at it closely for some time, and did not pick up the animal smell close by. Maybe it was the singing walls and creaking ceiling that stifled its sensors.

The hedgehog took a deep, full breath and chuckles despite their dark situation. "I am free." He said.

Knuckles was confused. "Free? Free from what? Speak sense, confound you!"

Shadow kept his cool, and answered as patiently as a snake awaiting a meal, "that emerald was my poison. It sapped my power, made me vulnerable to disease and illness like you normal creatures. Now my death sentence is over and the Doctor has no hold on me."

Knuckles kept an eye on the hunter who was still intently studying what it had just blasted. "So, would you have possibly killed Sonic rather than face death?"

"No. Not me." He shook his head, expression lax and resolute. The grinding of the walls dimmed and then hollered into something worse. A pipe somewhere in the wall exploded. Steam poured from a vent over their heads. "The thing was, Sargus was a part of me."

Now was no time to really sit back and chat. Knuckles reluctantly stepped forward, causing more pain to rush up his leg.

The hunter in front suddenly made a dash, and it headed straight towards them.

Knuckles didn't have time to shout a warning.

He braced himself, muzzle leering in a dangerous snarl. But the android simply rushed straight past, as if they were never there.

Shadow turned to watch it sprint as fast as a human could.

"What the?"

"It must be because of this place." Knuckles cried. "It's falling apart! Come on! We have to get out of here!"

"But why is this place falling apart?"

"I don't know! Stop looking at me and run! You have legs! Use them!"

They didn't stop to look out for enemies. They simply ran as fast as they could.

Shadow led the way, though he had only some idea where he was going. Animals have an instinctive sense to send them back out above ground, or into an open place from deep caves or cavernous areas.

It wasn't long before Shadow, after transgressing several corridors that all looked the same as the last few dozen, found the door they had come in through.

They pushed it inch it open, and they more or less tumbled out like bolting rabbits.

Knuckles was first into the tight crevice of rock that Shadow had initially found while climbing the mountains. It was slow going. Something exploded behind them, and that only pressed Knuckles to go as fast as he could go.

Finally they faced the sheer vertical mountain face where they had to start descending if they wanted to get out of the area quick.

Shadow looked from the narrow stone corridor and trembled at the landscape blotched out before them in hues of amber, green and violet as the sun rose gently from the east.

It was sunrise.

They had been in that horrible cold artificial base all night.

"Go, go…"

Knuckles nearly slipped and almost fell to his doom when he reached out to rest a foot on a rocky platform, only to have it break away like dry bone under his shoe.

Shadow lurched forward, his quick reflexes propelling him into action before he had even realised it himself.

He gripped Knuckle's wrist hard, allowing the echidna to strike for another chance.

He hitched onto the sheer cliff wall with his knuckled spikes (which was easier without any gloves), and began the climb downwards.

Shadow was not as well equipped, but without Sargus moulding into his bloodstream and shooting whispers of dark, rich poison into his system, his head was clear and his energies boundless.

He was confident that he could make the climb back down to Mobius. Besides, the height no longer terrified him. It was the unsteady, unpredictable decent itself.

Their progress was steady and swift. The danger from above, though dampened somewhat by the covering of rocks concealing the hidden base beneath, still sounded like a behemoth was tearing down partitions, doors and pillars.

Terror was twinkling in Knuckles' eyes.

Shadow, not more than a few feet above him, shouted hoarsely in the dawn air, "what about Sonic?"

"He may have already made it out by now."

He could only hope. There no time left to go and look for him. There was about a million rooms in that place.

"Do you think he found Robotnik?"

"I'll ask him." He replied humourlessly.

When they made it at the bottom, they ran on and up a hill by the river, which was still overflowing.

At last, Knuckles could take no more and collapsed quite happily under a belt of hawthorn and dogwood. Some of the ground was boggy where the river water had swept in, and some flowers had drowned in muddy shallows and puddles.

Still, here was perfect respite for a wounded warrior.

Shadow didn't sit. He was much too tense. Instead he stood watching. Perhaps hoping he would see a certain young blue hedgehog picking his way down the mountain face as they had done? Or perhaps he was already around somewhere, waiting to jump up and surprise them?

They looked on. Knuckles was panting, but all the while happy they were out of that dreadful place. And the Master Emerald? The thought made him return back to his wall of pain and the bitter failure he had not perceived.

He had not done what he had come to do, after everything.

"Shit…"

"Urm… Knuckles?"

"What?" He enunciated hatefully, not wishing to be troubled unless there was a doctor around.

Shadow didn't speak. He was looking out straight ahead of him. Knuckles followed his gaze, and slowly, without being conscious of it, his jaw hung open.

At first, it was without sound.

The sky fell to black, as if the sun had been carried away.

The wind grew harsh, sharp and cold. A tower of bulbous smoke rose up like a tower on the mountain top, then the sound carried and a huge explosion rattled the landscape, above and below, so that it was felt everywhere.

The cloud continued upward, still to reach its apex, the zenith of its peak.

It billowed out, creating a mushroom cloud.

"Oh my…" Knuckles couldn't stand up now. The forceful winds were keeping him down. Shadow however, fought to remain vertical. He crossed out his arms in front of him, zealously fighting the massive gales that hurled and cut at anything it touched.

"Sonic…"

"He may have made it out…" Knuckles shouted above the thunderous wind and heated explosions still going off somewhere in the mountains.

"No…" Shadow's bright red eyes, now silky and alert, was no longer misty with illness. "No… He's gone…"

They stared on, at the cloud rising. At the thick black sky where once it had been dawn.

At the catastrophe.

* * *

><p>Tails saw it first. He pointed and screamed. His sudden cry made some of the animals jump and look about for danger.<p>

Sally took Tails into her arms. Amy Rose, with Bunnie and Dulcy turned to gape at the cloud, not quite knowing what to make of it.

"Well, 'tis a good thing it's far off." Commented Bunnie.

Sally was holding Tails tight and stroking the locks if spiky fur on the top of his head. "What is it sweetie?" She whispered to him, "it's not going to do us any harm…"

"Sonic…" The fox whimpered gently, eyes hazy behind a veil of tears, "Sonic…"

It was like he knew something. But knew what?

She turned and looked back at the cloud. It grew still. The sky was tainted a deep mauve, then red. For some reason, tears reached her own eyes, and still, she could not place why.

Everything else went quiet. She couldn't hear Tails sobbing beside her.

Something inside her heart stirred.

"Sonic…" She let go of Tails and ran a little way forward, gripping in a confusion she could fathom. What was she feeling? Why was the cloud of pilling smoke so important?

Then, little by little, it began to dawn on her.

The mushroom cloud was in the east. Wayland was in the east.

So did that mean…?

Mobius was under an uncertain darkness. The trees rocked and groaned. All who saw the bright light and saw the towering cloud stopped to see. To feel what it was.

Sally stood in a small forest, compelled to know what was going on. But in her heart, she already knew. She didn't want to, she guessed. The hard truth always hurt.

The forest fell into a peaceful gathering.

No one moved.

Everyone watched the cloud, a block of solid smoke puncture the heavens and flow onwards still, without limit.

Some families huddled together and whispered mute prayers. Others clasped their paws tight. Tails still wept.

The darkness sifted after a time. But the darkness in Sally's heart did not.

The sky was red that day.

* * *

><p><strong>Dib07:<strong> I enjoyed this so much that I just did not want to finish it! I felt that once I had ended it, it would be over. No more Sonic adventures. No more tales of Mobius. No winter songs, so summer secrets or ploys of the unknown.

Writing this story taught me a lot. About us as individuals and what being a hero truly means. Sonic is above all of the most strongest characters out there that leads, is not afraid to fight oppression and above all, does one thing we all would run towards.

Freedom.

Humans are evil in one form or another. I read about it every day and it's always there. Many do not see it, or do not want to see it.

But here, in this story, it shows the prevalence of animalkind over man.

As I said, it was hard to end this story, but everything after a time, has to end. Putting Sonic through hell was incredibly hard to write. And the destruction of Knothole was something I thought I was never capable of doing. But I had to project the situation of man and beast and how they can never coincide without some kind of conflict.

Anyone can be someone. But it takes courage, and selflessness to become a hero.

And I think there is a little bit of him in every one of us.

We just don't know it.

The next instalment is **Panacea.**


End file.
